News: Ingall Ninth Quickest For Supercheap Auto Racing, Internationals 'Humbled' By Fast Island GP Circuit

Russell Ingall produced the ninth quickest time in today's practice for the L&H 500 in his and Paul Morris's lead Supercheap Auto Racing Commodore, while internationals Boris Said and Matt Neal described the Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit as "intimidating" and "humbling".

Neal and Morris were listed 28th best, their learning day at one of the world's most spectacular circuits interrupted by a steering issue in the #67 SCAR Commodore.

Ford driver Mark Winterbottom set the quickest time of the day with a 1m 33.5330s lap, with championship leader Garth Tander second quickest for the Toll Holden Racing Team - Ingall just 0.7s behind on a day where working on setup for Sunday's 500km race was more important than outright speed.

Paul Morris: "The #67 car had a steering issue which Boris picked up pretty early. I did three laps in it and it was definitely there, so Boris and Matt were restricted in track time while the car wasn't that great. They didn't get a fair shake today but we'll work out what's going on. I did the first half hour in the #39 and trucked around on old tyres. Russell played around the rest of the day on the same set and did a great job; we did 36 laps on the same tyres and still ran mid 35s which was pretty good. We put another used set on at the end and to be top 10 on those was pretty good."

Boris Said: "Today was really humbling. I'm glad more of these Aussie drivers don't come to the US and steal our jobs because they're the best of the best - they're a lot faster than I thought. I'm a little disappointed with where I'm at, but I was making progress each lap and tomorrow we'll get quicker and be more respectable. Phillip Island's a great, great circuit, we don't have anything like this in the US, so long and fast. The great thing about today is the fenders are still on the car and we didn't need to go to Supercheap Auto to buy any parts!"

Matt Neal: "Phillip Island's an awesome circuit, it's intimidating. Trying to learn it is difficult, I wanted to get behind people, but I also don't want to get in front of others and block them on a fast lap. These V8 Supercars still grab my attention; if I was in a two litre car around here it wouldn't be so bad, but these things are like you're on a rodeo ride - they've got so much get up and go you've just got to hold onto them. The series is so competitive, it'll be a long weekend for Boris and me, but we'll get there."

2008 V8 Supercar Series, Rd 9 - L&H 500 Phillip Island (Practice)
1. Winterbottom/Richards, Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon BF
2. Tander/Skaife, Toll Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore VE
3. Courtney/Besnard, Jeld-Wen Motorsport Ford Falcon BF
4. Davison/Johnson, Jim Beam Racing Ford Falcon BF
5. R Kelly/Radisich, HSV Dealer Team Holden Commodore VE
6. Bright/Macrow, Fujitsu Racing Ford Falcon BF
7. Ritter/Ellery, Valvoline/Cummins Holden Commodore VE
8. Holdsworth/Caruso, Valvoline/Cummins Holden Commodore VE
9. Ingall/Morris, Supercheap Auto Racing Holden Commodore VE
10. Van Gisbergen/Webb, SP Air Tools Ford Falcon BF
28. Neal/Said, Supercheap Auto Racing Holden Commodore BF