FORD XR8 SPRINT v HOLDEN SS-V REDLINE
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finds slightly better balanced than the V8,
but actually laps slightly slower.
Ingall (gesturing at the XR8): “It can’t
just be tyres can it.”
Skaife: “No, it can’t be. A lot of it is
rear roll-centres.”
Ingall: “I can’t feel any roll in the rear.”
Skaife: “That’s what I mean. Rear rollstiffness compared to the front is just way
out of whack, and then because it’s got no
engine progression... bam!”
Ingall: “The power delivery is very light-
switch. The low-down torque is incredible.
It runs out of power up high, but the low-
down torque is too much. I don’t think it
helps the oversteer. I had to keep running a
gear up all the time just to calm it down.”
Conversation turns to the Commodore.
Ingall: “The chassis difference is insane.The Commodore is so much better. You can
feel it is the lowest-powered car. But the
chassis is just so good. It’s up for it.”
Skaife: “The whole car is a very nice
car. Seriously, it’s just a travesty that these
things won’t be available in this country.
It’s a joke. It’s a four-door performance
car. What a cool car.”
The blokes at Ford Australia who
sweated blood to get the Sprint over the
line won’t be pleased by how brutally
Ingall and Skaife have dismissed their
last pride and joy. Their final tune of the
Miami V8 delivers more than 400kW on
overboost, and the R-spec suspension has
been retuned to suit the staggered 19-inch
Pirelli P Zeros, which are patently better
tyres than the old Dunlop Sport Maxx
rubber they replace.
It matters not. The times tell the story.
Ingall’s best in the Falcon is more than
four seconds slower than Skaife’s lap in
the Commodore. The Holden is clearly
the better car.
It is also the best Commodore yet, the
best exploitation of the Zeta architecture,
riding on the best tune of the FE3
suspension, all supporting that verbose and
extrovert 304kW LS3 engine. It all gels so
well, and little things like flappy paddles
add the cherry on top.But these cars are done. Like Skaife and
Ingall, they will become legends. Gone but
not forgotten.
For both drivers there is sadness in
acknowledging the death of Falcon and
Commodore, and the closure of the Ford
and Holden manufacturing plants.
Ingall: “The day it happens, the day that
padlock gets put on the front gate, I reckon
it will be a massive shock. I don’t think
people even realise the shock it’s going to
be. Not only that two major companies
are shutting down, but just the history.
On the road, on the race track. It’s going
to be a sad day.”
Skaife: “What we don’t understand
is it’s the social fabric of Australia; it’s
Collingwood versus Carlton, it’s Liberal
versus Labor, it’s Ford versus Holden. We
have grown up, we have been red or blue.
“I totally agree with what Russell is
saying. The biggest thing we have lost in
this is something that we don’t get back.
The day we turn the tap off, the tap doesn’t
get turned back on.”Like Skaife and Ingall, these cars will
become legends – gone but not forgotten