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Ingall: We're strongest after Triple Eight

03 Apr 2014
Success is coming sooner than expected for veteran Ingall, after top three qualifying effort and results find him 10th in the Championship.
4 mins by James Pavey
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Success is coming sooner than expected for V8 Supercars racer Russell Ingall, who sits in the top 10 of the Championship after two point-scoring events.

The veteran feels this is his best start to the season in years, happy not just with his point score – 10th and just eight points behind Garth Tander – but the car speed of his Repair Management Australia-backed Commodore.

“We had a top five car all day. All day,” Ingall said of Sunday in Tasmania.

“We did have an issue in qualifying, which put us back to where we were (19th). We fixed it and off she went, the thing was a jet.

“So it’s looking good… apart from the two Triple Eight cars, we’re probably the next strongest car in an overall lap sense.”

In fact, Ingall believes plenty of competitors are already looking vulnerable.

“I think a lot of other teams are starting to show they’re starting to get a little fragile, even in this early stage,” he told v8supercars.com.au.

“There’s a lot of desperation going on out there by drivers. I think also, teams are finding it financially pretty tight.

“That’s one thing we’ve been very conscious of and I worked out with Lucas (Dumbrell, team boss) initially, that we had a strong budget to do the full year and get whatever we need. Spend it in the right areas as well, and don’t be stupid with the money… We haven’t got gold plated knobs on the toolboxes but we’ve got a good car.”

Given the strength of his Triple Eight-built Commodore at the Tyrepower Tasmania last weekend – which saw him break his qualifying hoodoo and start from the second row of the grid, and finish as high as fourth – Ingall said his small team was progressing quicker than he had anticipated. 

The best part? Ingall spots similarities between Winton Raceway and Symmons Plains, where he went well last weekend. “It’s going to be a similar sort of atmosphere, it’s a similar sort of track.

“Qualifying is utmost. Qualify at the front, at the point end, and you’re going to have a good weekend.

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“So in a lot of respects, it’s much the same, so it’s funny it’s one after the other.

“They’re much the same in the respect you’ve got to be up the front. It’s damn hard to pass and if you’re down mid-field or below there’s a good chance you’re going to come back with a banged up car.”

He topped practice last year at the Victorian track and finished ninth in the first race, but being involved in a fairly significant accident early on meant no points for the final two runs.

While many thought he was on the brink of retiring as a full-time V8 Supercars driver last year, so far, 50-year old Ingall has shown he still has the passion, proud of the progress his team has made.

“We’re well ahead of what we thought we’d be!" he said happily.

“It’s been a good start so the main thing is, up to this meeting – touch wood – we’ve finished every lap of every race. And that was the intention, so we’re on the right track…

“We’ve just got to keep it simple and not make a mistake. If we do that we’ll keep finishing in the top 10 I think.”

With Ingall traditionally performing well at street circuits and the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, which he won in 1995 and ‘97, he feels his best is yet to come, with the run home generally his strongest part of the season.

“Our main aim was always just to keep trucking along, not bring the thing back in a skip bin each round, keep it simple and then by mid-year really have a good go – especially when I get to tracks I like. The Gold Coast race especially, street races, Townsville I go really well at.

“Bathurst we’ll be strong – and we should have some pretty exciting news about co-drivers soon.”

The V8 Supercars will be on-track from 11.55am local time, with three 20-minute practice sessions to play out today.

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