Ingall: We Have Quietened the Sceptics

Based on a promising outing at the Clipsal 500 Adelaide, Russell Ingall is in no doubt he has made the right decision to keep racing full-time into a 19th V8 Supercars season.

Ingall, who turned 50 in the week leading up to the Championship opener, posted 12th and 13th place finishes in Saturday’s two 125km sprints in the Repair Management Australia Holden Commodore VF. 

And he was on-track for the top 10 in Sunday’s 250km mini-marathon until a clash with rookie Dale Wood damaged his steering, forcing him into the pits for repairs and 17th place.

“We were hoping to come out of Adelaide in the top 15 and we sit 12th in the Championship,” Ingall told v8supercars.com.au. “If not for Sunday’s mishap we would have been top 10 in the Championship.

“I think a lot of the scepticism of people along the pitlane and of punters has been put to rest.”

Ingall said the top 10 remained the season’s goal for the team: “Our intention this year is just to fly under the radar, pluck along and at the end of the year have people say ‘that team did a really good job, it’s in the top 10, it’s challenging for decent race positions’.”

The 2005 V8 Supercars Champion joined forces with a restructured Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport over the summer after stepping out of the Supercheap Auto Commodore he has campaigned for the last two years for Walkinshaw Racing.

LDM had a poor 2013 and dropped back from two cars to a single Commodore in 2014, with respected ex-Walkinshaw engineer Joe Sasso stepping in as crew chief.

Ingall played a key role in pulling the operation together over the last couple of months and admitted the organisational role off-track. 

“This is my sort of deal,” he said. “A one-car deal where you are not putting up with political s--- from team-mates and arse-covering for people. And that’s what I said to the guys all along, if I make a mistake I will put my hand up and I expect them to do the same.

“So far the working relationship has been good, so I have enjoyed it because it is great having involvement and not just being a steering wheel attendant.”

A key element of the new structure is Ingall and team owner Dumbrell’s ability to forge a relationship. The quadriplegic former racer has had a tough run since first coming into the category as an owner in 2010.

“He has given me a free reign in it and he has probably learned a lot along the way,” said Ingall. “He is still only young, only 24, and he is quite willing to take onboard what I am telling him.

“I think that is some of the problem, I think he gets fed a lot of information from Eddie the experts, but I said to him ‘I am not going to bull---- you, I am going to tell you the truth and I am going to tell you the right things… he’s taken it onboard and I think he appreciates it.”

Ingall said his priorities had been lifting the level of car preparation from last year and making sure the reconstituted crew truly understood the effort it takes to go racing in V8 Supercars.

“The guys have really lifted, everything is looking good,” Ingall explained. “There are still improvements in the team we have to make. It’s been explained to everyone the level we have to be to play with the big boys. They have seen it, they have smelled it, they have tasted it, so they get an idea of where they have to be now.”

Ingall revealed the next step was to invest some development dollars into the team’s Commodore, which is built by Triple Eight Race Engineering but gets no technical support from the multi Championship-winning operation.

Ingall, who has never been renowned as a qualifier, was 18th fastest for Race One and 24th for Races Two and Three. He believes top 10 grid spots are achievable with some development. 

“We are three or four tenths (of a second) off (per lap) and we know where it is. We just didn’t have the time and resources to fix it in Adelaide.

“Now we need car speed and there’s only one factor that is going to take and that is money. It depends on people behind the scenes and if they dip into their pockets we will go faster, simple as that. 

“That’s the next lobby... but I am pretty happy with it. A lot of people finished behind us and a lot of class acts.”

The V8 Supercars this week head to the 2014 Formula One Rolex Australian Grand Prix – where Ingall has won more races than any other V8 Supercars driver in history, with a record eight wins. Former WR stablemate Tander has seven, retired racer Mark Skaife six and current points leader Craig Lowndes tied with Jason Bright on five. The event begins Thursday, with tickets available now.