Russell Ingall has described his Bathurst 12 Hour experience as a ‘kick in the guts’ after crashing out of contention.
Ingall glanced the inside wall exiting the Esses just before the halfway mark, cannoning the Castrol Vodafone BMW M6 hard into the outside wall.
The #7 M6 Ingall shared with fellow Bathurst 1000 winners Mark Skaife and Tony Longhurst and ex-F1 driver Timo Glock had not long gone a lap down after pitting to fix a loose bonnet.
The had previously enjoyed a long spell tailing the leaders as the last genuine BMW contender.
“I just came up behind another car,” Ingall explained.
“We actually had a reasonable pace going and basically I just tagged the wall on the inside just before the Dipper.
“I was right up behind the other car and lost track of how much real estate I had on the inside. I was trying to line him up for (Forrest’s) Elbow, but that is life – just a simple mistake.
“Hitting the inside wall must have broken the steering, which fired it into the outside wall – that was it, lights out.”
The incident was particularly devastating given the extensive preparation the BMW Team SRM entry had undertaken.
“It is a real shame to end like this,” Ingall added.
“Skaifey did a fantastic job, Tony (Longhurst) has been great throughout the whole process in putting this whole deal together and Timo (Glock) has been tremendous.
“It is a real disappointment to finish like this – but it is just a typical Bathurst deal – when this place kicks you in the guts, it kicks you pretty good.”
The program also represented the first time in which former bitter adversaries Ingall and Skaife had joined forces as teammates, while the presence of Tony Longhurst made for a combined 10 Bathurst 1000 wins in the #7.
Longhurst reflected on the camaraderie among the Supercars veterans as the dust settled on the campaign which he put together and supplied the car for.
“I think we did a remarkable job getting the sponsorship together, getting Russell and Mark together along with Timo,” said Longhurst.
“All of us have had a really great time together – it’s been a good adventure and a shame that it ended on a low instead of a high but no one can say we didn’t have a go.”
Glock meanwhile expressed his satisfaction at having at least been able to tackle Bathurst for the first time after taking the start in the M6.
“It was a good experience for me,” said the thrice F1 podium finisher.
“The middle of the first stint when we had the Safety Car was really impressive with the sunrise.
“It (the Safety Car) came just at the right moment to enjoy a bit of the sunrise and it looked awesome – I know now why they call it Skyline and it was just a good experience.”
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