We kidnapped Ingall to talk shop, shit-stirring, and the “grand final of V8s”, the Sydney Telstra 500, to be held in December on the streets of Olympic Park.

Image: Chevron Library

A terrific piece of motor racing theatre played out at a recent media call at Sydney Motorsport Park (formerly Eastern Creek International Raceway). Introduced to speak to the throng of journos was Mark Skaife, a five-time winner of our domestic Touring Car/Supercar championship, and six-time conqueror of Mt Panorama. The last words of the MC’s intro were to the effect of, “So, here he is, Australia’s most accomplished motor racing driver ... ” As Skaife was about to grab the media’s ear, V8 veteran Russell Ingall, one of three other motorsporting headline acts at the event, piped up, asking the MC, “Would you like me to step forward and say a few words, then?”

It was a fun moment, and no harm or offence was intended for a blushing Skaife, but if Ingall wanted to be prickly about the situation, he’d have a point. “The Enforcer” collected his own championship in 2005, finishing runner-up in ’98, ’99 and 2001. Bathurst? Yep, he’s won there too, in ’95 and ’97. He’s even raced more times than the late, great Peter Brock, sitting only behind John Bowe, and, yep, Skaife. Inside Sport kidnapped Ingall after that day’s formalities to talk shop, shit-stirring, and the “grand final of V8s”, the Sydney Telstra 500, to be held in December on the streets of Olympic Park.

You recently surpassed Brocky (212) on the all-time starts list, to sit behind only John Bowe (225) and Mark Skaife (220). Do you find that each one of your starts still provides more and more confidence through experience?

Motorsport is different from a lot of other sports. Football, for example, you learn pretty quickly from a young age, and as you get older, you sort’ve maintain your ability. Motorsport has evolved so much, especially with equipment. The other part of it which has changed from when I first came into the sport is the tracks. We raced on the Wintons, the Sandowns and all those circuits which have been around for 25 years. Now, we’re going to all these new Hollywood places like Abu Dhabi, Texas next year. All of a sudden you’re learning a new playground. It’s always evolving; that’s probably what keeps you interested. A lot of people ask, “You’re getting on a bit, you’ve been round a while, you getting bored with it?” But while things change, you’re learning. You’re like a kid with a new toy every time you roll up to a track.

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Why are you nicknamed The Enforcer? Doesn’t everybody do whatever they can to “force” their way to the front?

I did a lot of my racing early on in Europe. In the early ‘90s over there, it was a very closed shop because there were a lot of driver/owners, and they were pretty protective of their little bit of turf. It’s very cut-throat, more so than here, in the respect you have one year to prove yourself, and if you don’t, you’re into the drivers’ graveyard. You have no mates, everyone wants your job, and basically everyone wants to kill ya! I came back with that mentality; after six years in Europe, it’s embedded in your head. I came back here and it was probably a bit more gentleman-like racing ... If there was someone in front of me, I fed them into the fence and got on with it. I couldn’t work out what the uproar was. I often wondered, “Why does everyone hate me? That’s just racing.” A lot of people didn’t like it, both within the industry and spectators. Now, it’s what people want – entertainment.

A new group of followers wants to see aggression. The nickname evolved through the media and I just ran with it.

When you first heard of this new “Supercars” idea being mooted, what were your thoughts ... That the sport was on a winner?

When I’d left to go to Europe, it was still the Sierra and Nissan days ... and I just didn’t like the racing here. It was very uneven, you had turbo-charged cars in there; a big disparity between the cars. That was the main reason I went overseas. I thought, “Well, if this is the pinnacle of Australian racing, I may as well go overseas and have a crack.” It was when they changed the format in ‘95 – I came back that year and won Bathurst with Larry Perkins – that it all changed. It went back to the Commodores and the Falcons. They were just getting on top of a format. The cars were getting a lot better, they were fast, they handled a lot better, they were nicer to drive; they were becoming more like racing cars, instead of hot-rodded road cars.

Newsreader Sandra Sully, a rose between two ... respected drivers. Image: Chevron Library

What effect will the Nissans’ re-introduction next year have on the V8 Supercars landscape?

It’s not going to be like it was. Back then, you had a four-wheel-drive, turbo-charged car with electronics; far more advanced than anyone else. Let’s face it, with all due respect to anyone who was racing them, they were pretty fool-proof. But it’s different now. They have to run a V8 engine, a set horsepower, so when they come in it’s going to be very much on a level playing field with everyone else. It’s the right way to go. I think we have to do it because the world’s changing. I’d love it to stay Ford and Holden, personally, because I grew up in that era. But you have to look at the changing marketplace. For the survival of the category, I’m afraid you have to roll over and go, “Oh well, you still want the sport to be around in ten years, so the only way that’s going to happen is to widen the appeal.”

You’ve been teasing the younger drivers on Twitter for “smashing lattes” lately. That generation gap banter must be fun?

I think with the younger bunch of drivers coming into the category now, no doubt there’s a few latte-sippers and a few Versace-wearers ... The good thing about our sport is that there’s such a varied demographic; you’ve got fans aged between six and 60. You have to have the younger guys there; all the young girls and boys, that’s who they look up to – the younger latte-sipping crowd. But sometimes I feel our category forgets that there’s the over-40s who follow us, too.

They’re a big demographic of V8 Supercars – probably over 50 percent. So let’s not forget about catering for them, either.

What’s a good sledge you’ve dished out or received which has stuck with you?

I’m team-mates with a couple of the biggest sledgers in motorsport in James Courtney and Garth Tander. They’re a couple of mongrels who’d do whatever they can to get in your head. You name it, they’ll mess around. We went out to a ride day at Phillip Island last week and they got into my hire car before we drove back to the airport. I had two and a half hours of driving ahead of me and they’d put zip ties on the axle shafts and pulled all the wheel weights off and put them all on one wheel so the steering wheel was vibrating. Then they unplugged the radio so I couldn’t hide all the noises that were going on. Don’t worry, they do their utmost to piss me off. But I’ve got a good one for them this weekend. You can put it in, because it’s going to happen. There was a bit of waxing that went on in a waxing studio about a week ago, so I kept a couple of the used waxing strips with a bit of the remnants which is going to find its way inside their helmets just before race one at Eastern Creek. I’m sure they’ll love that. That’ll teach them to mess around with my hire car.

It must get pretty “hairy” in the heat of the battle?

Yeah, the intimidation, really, is on the track. You know the drivers, you know what they like and don’t like. There are a couple of drivers who are a little bit weak mentally and you harass them, just keep thumping their back bumper bar or just keep unsettling them and you know they’ll lose it. And then as soon as they lose it, that’s it, she’s all over. They’ll start driving erratically. You can rattle drivers pretty good, but you also have to know your competition as well. You do your homework beforehand and find out what their weaknesses are and then just keep playing on those in the race. It’s amazing how many have come unstuck over the years.

What’s the general vibe among V8 drivers re: the Homebush circuit?

Sydney predominantly hasn’t been a strong market for V8 Supercars, which is strange, because it’s had such a big heritage with Bathurst and Eastern Creek ... Oran Park for a lot of years. You’ve almost got to bring the race to the people, and I think that’s what Homebush achieved. The mindset is, “Well, they won’t come and see us, so let’s take the race to them. Let’s get it somewhere where it’s accessible and people can come out.” I reckon it’s worked really well and it’s definitely pushed the V8 Supercars brand a lot better in NSW, and in Sydney especially. It’s a shame it seems to be all coming to an end. I think it was a perfect venue; it didn’t disrupt traffic ... But anyway, that’s the NSW government, isn’t it? They seemed to think it wasn’t worth it, but I think they’ll miss it when it’s gone, that’s for sure.

You’re Tony Cochrane, V8 Supercars executive chairman, for the day. What are your visions for the category?

So that means I can have his house and bank account?

Firstly, I wish they’d put a current driver on the board of V8 Supercars. Because the landscape changes so quickly, I think you need one on there to tell them what, on the racing side of it, is needed.

I think the racing probably needs to be a little bit more ... dramatic. And that’s very circuit-orientated. Some circuits we go to, the cars are bunched up, and it’s good racing. At other circuits, a place like Phillip Island, the field really stretches out. NASCAR has it pretty well down pat. If the racing’s getting a bit boring, they’ll bring out the old promoter’s yellow. “Oh, there’s a feather on the track, we’d better slow it down.” It bunches the field back up.

Unfortunately, a lot of our sport’s about qualifying. The race is won or lost by Saturday’s qualifying. You have a handful of drivers who are very good qualifiers, and they qualify at the front, and it makes their weekend so much easier ... You qualify at the back, and you’re in big trouble. I’d come up with some sort of format that would give the guys who don’t usually qualify at the front a bit of a chance to get up there.

Russell Ingall (left) claimed Bathurst win No.2 in 1997 with Larry Perkins (middle). Peter Brock celebrated with them. Image: Chevron Library

How do you rate yourself as a regular road user?

I’m captain safety; I’m part of a safety campaign for DriverSafety and Supercheap Auto. I’m actually a very tame driver, but I have to tell ya, some of the most horrendous driving I see isn’t on a race track, it’s on the roads.

Unfortunately, Queensland, where I live, probably has some of the worst drivers in Australia. I don’t know whether it’s the casual atmosphere and they’re thinking about the beach, or getting down the pub for their next beer because it’s a hot day ... but I tell you what, they don’t concentrate on driving.

Our licence system nationally is just a joke. There should be mandatory defensive driving courses – they do one here at Eastern Creek – which put everyone through a practical driving course to teach skills on a skid pan, to teach them how to react if a car gets out of control in the wet – because it does happen. But we’re never told what to do if a car gets out of control. The skills we’re taught as race drivers should be taught to the guys who are just about to go for their licences ... not how to park a car in a side street, or how to do a U-turn ... give me a break. That’s not going to help you in a sudden downpour ...

What do you think of movies like Days Of Thunder and Talladega Nights? Do they make you laugh, or is their backdrop too close to home?

Talladega Nights is one of my all-time favourites. I’m a big Will Ferrell fan. We use his quotes in normal racing. Especially when we’re doing terribly in a meeting. When we’re going really bad, I’ll ask one of the engineers something like, “Shall I pull in for a pitstop?” And they’ll say, “Nah, we’re eating ice cream.”