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Russell Ingall is bracing for a barrage of doubters after his unexpected return from Supercars retirement was announced this morning.
At 57, Ingall will by far be the oldest driver on the grid come the Repco Bathurst 1000 in October.
He’ll be paired with 18-year-old Broc Feeney for the occasion – making him old enough to be the 2019 Super3 Series winner’s grandfather.
Ingall last contested the Great Race in 2016 with Rick Kelly for Nissan Motorsport, and his most recent competitive race was the 2019 TCR Australia finale at The Bend.
He is unwavering on the fact that he will be competitive, but is nonetheless anticipating the haters to come out of the woodworks – a prospect he welcomes.
“I am a very competitive person. I have to be the first one down to the shops, the first one in the coffee shop, and there’s no doubt that this won’t be any different,” Ingall said.
“I’m going to take it serious. I’m sure the keyboard warriors after this goes out will be absolutely on fire – for and against – but I encourage it.
“If you want to smash me up, guys, come onboard, get online, smash me up, because I feed on that sort of stuff.
“The only thing I feed on more is negativity and that only drives me harder.
“Along the scope too, I’ve got a big grey army out there that will be supporting me too, so that will be good.
“I’ll have both sides of the fence but I always have, my whole career has been good cop/bad cop. I’m looking forward to it – I will be going out there and having a big dip.”
The 2005 champion won’t be shy of ruffling feathers among his on-track rivals, either.
“When haven’t I?” he smiled.
“I still believe there’s a lot of latte drinkers amongst the lot of them and lycra wearers, and look, I have got no drama with that, but the thing is, when I get there and get on the track, it’s going to be as if I never left.
“The only friends I want to make are the fans – I don’t want to make friends with the drivers.
“There’s no doubt about that, and a lot of those drivers that are co-drivers and even guys that are in the main game, I was beating them when I was back there so I have no reason why I can’t beat them now.”
Ingall has twice conquered the Great Race, in 1995 and ’97, on both occasions with Larry Perkins.
The #39 wildcard entry will be run by Triple Eight Race Engineering with major backing from Supercheap Auto.
