MOTORSPORT: Ingall planning TCR shake-up

Russell Ingall intends to tap the same intensity that drove him to Bathurst and Touring Car Championship victories when he straps into the carsales TCR Australia Series for the first time at The Bend this weekend.

He is aiming to win, even though he will be facing a new generation of drivers who are young enough to be the 55-year-old veteran’s children.

Ingall earned the nickname The Enforcer during his V8 Supercars days and was famously involved in clashes with a number of drivers, including famously, Mark Skaife.

The Enforcer will join Garth and Leanne Tander in a three-car Audi effort in the third leg of the carsales TCR Australia Series, making his first appearance at the new Adelaide circuit and returning to front-wheel drive for the first time since he raced a Holden Vectra in the Super Touring category.

“You always say you’re going for fun, but secretly you want to win. If that desire goes away you would never have been competitive in the first place,” Ingall told carsales.com.au ahead of a pre-event test session.

“I’ve seen the racing and it doesn’t look too hard to win… Here’s the way I look at it: all the dudes in there are ones I used to beat when I was in supercars, so why should it be any different?”

But one of Ingall’s old sparring partners, Garth Tander, says things might not be as easy as Ingall expects after his own fast-and-furious introduction to TCR at the previous round at Phillip Island.

“I don’t know how he will go. It’s been a while for him,” Tander told carsales.com.au.

“He’s jumping in at the deep end, and that’s admirable. He knows what he’s doing and by Saturday night he should be close to the pace.

And Tander sees one other big benefit for him as The Enforcer arrives as his Audi teammate.

“The good thing now is that I’m not the oldest bloke in the team. It’s good to have him back,” he laughs.

Ingall is also laughing, but he will turn serious when he fronts at The Bend.

“I sorta half-know front-wheel drive stuff already. My day job in England when I was racing Formula Ford was instructing in front-wheel drive Ford Fiestas and I did thousands of miles in the things. And I drove that Vectra.

“It will be alright. I’ve never been to The Bend before, so that will be the biggest challenge. So we’ll have a look around and try to get a few laps in.”

Ingall also believes his TCR drive will help him in his new role in the media alongside his mate Paul Morris.

“Everyone can comment about TCR and say it’s good or not good, but only way to find out is to drive one of the things. I’ve dragged my helmet out and I’ve been looking at videos, trying to learn some stuff, and all of a sudden it’s like it used to be when I was racing full-time.”

Ingall, like Tander, has yet to make a full-time commitment to the TCR series, even if his renewed rivalry could continue later in the year.

“I’ll be back for Sandown,” Tander says.

“I’ve got some clashing commitments that mean I cannot do the whole series, but Sandown is a GT race weekend and I already have that in the diary so I can do TCR.”

For Ingall, despite his dream of winning, the bottom line is simple.

“I want to see what they’re like. Have a bit of fun. And enjoy racing again.

“It’s like the Stadium Truck races I did last year. I had a bloody good race meeting without all the politics and wankers,” Ingall stated.