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Famous Names Reunite

27 Aug 2015
Russell Ingall to replace his injured former teammate James Courtney for Sandown enduro classic.
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Famous Names Reunite

Russell Ingall will replace an injured James Courtney in the Holden Racing Team #22 Commodore for the Wilson Security Sandown 500 next month.

The two-time Bathurst winner and 2005 V8 Supercars Champion known as 'The Enforcer' will come out of retirement to fill in for good friend Courtney and reunite two great names of motorsport.

Ingall, 51, pairs with Jack Perkins, who was signed as the team's co-driver but had to fill in for Courtney at the last minute at the Sydney Motorsport Park SuperSprint after a freak accident left Courtney with broken ribs and a punctured lung. The announcement comes after Courtney ruled himself out of the September 11-13 Sandown event on Wednesday.

Jack is a former V8 Supercars full-timer and the son of great Larry Perkins.

This season, Ingall has featured on the broadcast as a FOX Sports expert commentator. It is not the first time a key member of the broadcast has stepped into the driver's seat for enduro duties, with commentator Mark Skaife racing with Craig Lowndes in 2010 and winning Bathurst.

Skaife suggested on Tuesday night's episode of Inside Supercars that old foe Ingall was the obvious choice for the HRT, despite the international names that had been bandied around.

"The guy I would put in the car is Russell Ingall," Skaife said.

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"He's not commentating in the bulk of the race, he's doing pre and post comments, which I did for Channel Seven [during Bathurst].

"Ingall and Perkins on the window would look pretty cool and I reckon he'd do a great job."

Larry Perkins and Ingall were teammates in the 1990s and won two Bathurst 1000s together, '95 notably from the rear of the grid.

Jack and Ingall have also contested the '500' together before, at Paul Morris Motorsports in 2011, when it was held at Phillip Island.

Ingall raced his last season in V8 Supercars with Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport last year and helped the developing team put some runs on the board.

He previously spent two seasons with Walkinshaw Racing, though in the Supercheap Commodore, not a Holden Racing Team machine.

Ingall and Courtney are former teammates, having raced together at Stone Brothers Racing in 2006-07 when Courtney returned from overseas to contest the Australian Championship. They were also in the same stable at Walkinshaw Racing in 2012-13.

Ingall will get behind the wheel of the #22 on Thursday next week at the team's pre-enduro test day at Winton in Victoria.

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