V8 SUPERCARS veteran Russell Ingall is set to defy age and form to continue for a final season, shutting out one of the young hopefuls vying for the few remaining seats in next year's new-look V8 Supercars championship.

Ingall, the oldest V8 driver at 48, has secured an extension of his deal with Walkinshaw Racing to finish his distinguished, but fading career during the biggest year of change in the sport's history. He will continue as the stablemate of the Walkinshaw-run factory-backed Holden Racing Team in a third VF Commodore backed again by his sponsor Supercheap Autos.

Distinguished career: Russell Ingall has two Bathurst 1000 victories. Credit:Getty Images

To be billed as his farewell season, Ingall will compete amid a season-long celebration of his enduring V8 career, highlighted by two Bathurst 1000 wins and a championship in 16 years.

A pair of promising drivers from V8's second-level development series and several outcasts from this season are now competing for the four unfilled places next year, when V8 Supercars switches to new cars, introduces new makes, adopts radical new race formats and expands to the US.