Caltex Racing’s Russell Ingall has clawed his way back to tenth place in the final race at Barbagallo Raceway today after starting race two from 24th position on the grid.
Ingall charged through the field to pick up ten positions in race two to place 14th then continued to pick off a further four spots in race three to break into the top ten.
The news was not so good for Ingall’s team mate however, with JELD-WEN Motorsport’s James Courtney failing to finish either race.
Ingall’s Caltex Racing Falcon started race two from 24th position as a result of the drive-through penalty handed to him post-race on Saturday evening.
Ingall made a good start, gaining three positions on the first lap, and proceeded to pick his way through the field following his compulsory pit stop, passing Fabian Coulthard on lap 36 and Shane Price on lap 39.
The Caltex Racing driver gained an impressive 10 positions throughout the race, finishing in 14th position.
Race three saw Ingall move up to 12th position on the first lap, where he diced with Steven Richards throughout the early laps. Struggling for pace early in the race, Ingall dropped back to 14th again before pitting for rear tyres on lap 18.
The Caltex Racing Falcon found form after the stop, with Ingall passing Max Wilson, Greg Murphy and Lee Holdsworth in the closing stages of the race to finish the day in tenth position.
Luck continued to desert Courtney at the Western Australian round, the SBR Falcon suffering engine problems in race two when the JELD-WEN Motorsport driver was running a strong ninth.
Courtney held onto 11th position in the opening stages of the 50-lap race, pitting on lap 19 for rear tyres.
The JELD-WEN Motorsport Falcon made up a couple of positions to threaten Craig Lowndes for eighth before losing power without warning on lap 42, forcing Courtney to retire from the race.
Courtney was back on track for race three, the JELD-WEN Motorsport Falcon showing no ill effects of the earlier engine problem, racing from 29th to 17th in just 24 laps.
Courtney’s run was cut short however when his front left tyre suffered a puncture, dragging the JELD-WEN Motorsport Falcon into the wall and out of the race.
Western Australia was not a happy hunting ground for the SBR team, with Russell Ingall placing 12th for the round with 11 points and James Courtney coming in 16th with six points.
Courtney is currently on 61 points in the V8 Supercar Championship chase in sixth position; Ingall is in 11th position on 48 points.
Russell Ingall, car #9, Caltex Racing
“We had a good bit of speed at the end there but no result. It’s all about track position; without track position there are no results. “We managed to claw back a bit at the end and make the best of a bad round. “We are certainly not where we want to be but to pick up those 10 or 12 positions in race two and get into the points in the final two races was a positive.
“It’s a long season and every team is going to have a bad round at some stage. It seems that this was ours. It’s just a shame that it has happened so early in the season.
“We need a good result at Pukekohe, we need to make that stick. “We can’t dwell on this one; we learnt a lot about what not to do this weekend. You always take something out of a meeting. ”
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