Motorsport: Holden 'rebels' do it for Ford

Hero or traitor? That is the likely choice for Aussie V8 Supercar fans as the championship reaches its climax this weekend at Phillip Island, near Melbourne.

Russell Ingall, who drives for the Stone Brothers Ford team, comes to Sydney with a 49-point lead over another Ford driver, Craig Lowndes, and 86 over team-mate Marcos Ambrose. Holden's Todd Kelly and Mark Skaife still have championship chances but it looks like being the third Ford championship in a row.

And that is a bitter pill for Holden fans to swallow. What makes it worse is that, while Holden and Ford loyalty is handed down from generation to generation among the fans, Ingall and Lowndes both made their names in the championship as Holden drivers before switching loyalties.

Lowndes, 31, made a dream debut with the Holden Racing Team in 1996, winning the championship and the Bathurst 1000 with Greg Murphy.

He also won championships for Holden in 1998 and 1999 before a high-profile switch to Ford in 2001. It was a return to his single-seater days when he was Australian Formula Ford champion and third at the international Formula Ford Festival.

The 41-year-old Ingall, born in England but brought up in Queensland, is also a former Australian Formula Ford champion. He had considerable single-seater success in Europe, winning the British Formula Ford championship and the Ford Festival in 1993.

Kiwis had an early chance to see his aggressive style, which earned him the nickname, "The Enforcer", when he contested the 1992 New Zealand Formula Ford championship, winning 10 of 12 races.

He was given his chance in V8s by Holden legend Larry Perkins with whom he won Bathurst in 1995 and 1997. But he has never won the championship, being runner-up with the Perkins team in 1998, 1999 and 2001.

Two years ago he switched to Ford and last season finished second to Ambrose in the championship after a last-round one-two by the Stone Brothers team at Eastern Creek, Sydney.

If Ingall can finish within eight places of Lowndes in the three races this weekend, the title will be his - Ford fans can cheer and Holden enthusiasts can console themselves that they won Bathurst for the seventh year in a row and their pet hate of the moment, Ambrose, has been denied a hat-trick of titles.

Ambrose has signed to drive in the Nascar Craftsman Truck series in the United States next season and will likely be involved only in endurance races in Australia.

The consistent Ingall has won only one round, at Oran Park, Sydney, in May. Lowndes has won four and Ambrose two.

Of the New Zealand drivers, in the championship, expatriate Steven Richards (Holden) is sixth, Murphy (Holden) is 12th, Paul Radisich (Holden) is 15th, Jason Richards (Holden) is 18th and Craig Baird (Ford) is 21st.