A Feisty Finish For A Feisty Competitor. Thanks Russell.

Russell Ingall. (C)

    The motorsport off-season seems to be constantly shrinking in terms of time. Our heart rates have only just resumed normal service from last weekend's Sydney 500, when it's just dawned on us that it's a mere matter of weeks before V8 Supercars explode into 2014 with the Official Test Day at Sydney Motorsport Park. One driver who will be greatly missed from full time V8 Supercar duties next year however, is Walkinshaw Racing's Russell Ingall.
    The karting prodigy won the 1990 Australian Formula Ford Championship before taking himself off to Europe a couple of times. In 1993, driving for the Van Dieman team, he won a record that still stands of 13 wins from 16 races to become British Formula Ford Champion including the prestigious events of the Formula Ford Festival and World Cup at Brands Hatch. Ingall also won the 1995 British Formula Renault Championship and also competed in Japanese F3 and German F3. A lack of funding saw him return to Australia and embark on a full time V8 Supercar drive from 1996 after previously dipping his toe in a couple of times for the enduros. 18 seasons later and Russell Ingall has amassed 27 wins, 40 podiums, 2 Bathurst 1000 wins, series runner-up four times, and V8 Supercar champion in 2005. His pace is ever present as evidenced by his 4th place at this year's Clipsal 500 at Adelaide, his stunning podium at the Gold Coast 600 and stubborn drive into the top ten last weekend. Street circuits are obviously to his liking.
    Russell Ingall fans fear not though. He's not retiring from motorsport. No doubt he'll make an exciting addition to any V8 Supercar team as co-driver for the endurance season, plus he still harbours overseas ambitions such as Nascar and Le Mans 24 Hour. Jim Richards and John Bowe's careers have flourished since retiring from V8 Supercars. Russell Ingall's will too.
    Let us know your favourite or infamous Ingall moment. Who could ever forget his stouches with Mark Skaife? He certainly didn't mind putting his car up on two wheels around the concrete canyon last weekend. Crowd pleasing and feisty as ever. Leave formulafrontrow.com a comment or email us at: greenflag@formulafrontrow.com. Can't help but wonder if we'll see him driving something exotic at the Bathurst 12 Hour....

    Merry Christmas to all our friends and loyal followers. Season's Greetings.
    

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