Ingall hits the waves, gets championship chance.

V8 Supercar star and former Bathurst winner Russell Ingall got more than he bargained for when he turned up for a promotional ride in Bill Barry-Cotter's Class-1 Off-Shore powerboat on Botany Bay in Sydney this morning.

The Caltex Falcon driver was strapped in for a demonstration run and was so comfortable in the 250kph Maritimo entry, that he was offered the chance to drive the boat in round four the national championship a couple of hours later.

He jumped at the opportunity and teamed up with throttle man Peter "Muddy" McGrath to finish a fantastic second outright to fellow Gold Coasters Steve and Andrew Searle in the ACME Fibreglass entry.

Ingall has a personal sponsorship relationship with Maritimo and has a new 48-foot cruising flybridge Maritimo as his own boat.

Barry-Cotter, who is highly regarded for both his racing and boat building skills internationally, observed Ingall in the morning run before offering to step out of the driver's seat for the race.

Ingall completed a "dunk test" with CareFlight Safety Services, the training arm of RACQ CareFlight, at the Miami pool on the Gold Coast in preparation for ride.

The test involved Ingall being strapped into a training capsule and being dunked into deep water several times. He had to make his way from the capsule unaided, a couple of times while being blindfolded.

The training is the same required by actual competitors, hence Ingall's availability to team-up with McGrath in the race.

Ingall is set to reciprocate the ride by taking Barry-Cotter for a blast in his Caltex Falcon at similar speeds around the Queensland Raceway in July, but Ingall doubts that his team owner will allow Barry-Cotter the chance to drive in the actual race.

"I certainly got more than I bargained for today," said Ingall. "To go for the ride and do some steering out there by ourselves was one thing, but to be asked to be involved in the race was something totally unexpected.

"I have to thank Bill (Barry-Cotter), Peter (McGrath) and the rest of the Maritimo crew for giving me an amazing day I won't forget in a hurry. "I was going a little quicker than I am used to in my own Maritimo, back on the Gold Coast. I have never really experienced anything like this before.