Supercheap Auto Racing’s Russell Ingall will draw level with Peter Brock at this week’s Coates Hire Ipswich 300.
Ingall will make his 212th Australian Touring Car/V8 Supercar Championship start, moving him to equal third on the all-time most starts list with the late, great Brock – only John Bowe (225) and Mark Skaife (220) with more.
“To have my name mentioned in the same breath as Peter Brock is an honour,” Ingall said.
“It’s fantastic to still be racing V8 Supercars and, most importantly, still be competitive, but I never dreamed of racing as long as Peter.”
Ingall said he had fond memories of Brock, watching him race at Bathurst and then racing alongside his hero.
“I remember when I was a kid waking up early Sunday morning to watch Bathurst with my dad and going for Brocky, then all of a sudden I was sitting next to him on the grid,” he said.
“One of his last races at Oran Park we raced wheel-to-wheel.
“He was a clean racer, you could race doorhandle-to-doorhandle without touching. There was no way I was going to get mixed up and send him off-track, he was such a legend with the fans I would have been crucified.”
Ingall said he would not swap his V8 Supercar career, which has now spanned 17 fulltime seasons.
“People ask me if I wished I was starting all over again now, but I wouldn’t swap what I’ve had for anything,” he said.
“The eras I’ve been through, with Brock, Johnson, Perkins, Bowe – all the real greats, the true legends – and into the current era with all the young guns, it feels like I’ve had the best of both worlds.”
Currently 20th in series points, Ingall said he believed he could drive his Supercheap Auto Racing Commodore to a podium finish this weekend.
“I’ve done thousands of test laps around Ipswich, it was my regular test track for years so if there’s any track I’m going to go well at then the Coates Hire Ipswich 300 is it,” Ingall said.
“This is where we’re going to turn our season around; we’re going to qualify up there and race hard.
“I’ve been on the podium more times than not, so it’s time we drank some champagne this year.”
Ingall made his ATCC/V8SC debut with Larry Perkins renowned Castrol Perkins Racing Holden team in 1996.
He earned his place alongside the Bathurst hero after the pair claimed their now famous ‘last to first’ victory in Australia’s Great Race the previous year.
Ingall has made 490 race starts, winning 27 times and finishing top three on 90 occasions. He has finished inside the top 10 in series points an incredible 13 times in 16 seasons.
Four-times a series runner-up (1998, 99, 2001, 04), Ingall crowned his career by winning the 2005 V8 Supercar Championship.
Practice for the Coates Hire Ipswich 300 gets underway Friday morning.
