TODD AND RICK KELLY LOOK FOR MORE TROPHIES IN PERTH
Jack Daniel's Racing drivers Todd and Rick Kelly are keen to continue their
new team's late-season charge at the Bigpond 300 at Barbagallo Raceway in
Perth this weekend.
Rick Kelly, the younger of the two brothers, picked up the team's first two
trophies at Phillip Island two weeks ago aboard his #15 Jack Daniel's Racing
Holden Commodore.
With a third place on Saturday and second place on Sunday at the Island 300,
Kelly is determined to finish this season strongly to build momentum for an
all-out attack on the championship in 2010.
Todd Kelly is also keen to score his first podium finish for Kelly Racing,
having been fast enough to run in the top five in both races at Phillip
Island, only to have luck go against him on both occasions.
Both brothers have performed well at Barbagallo Raceway in the past, with
Rick Kelly scoring Perth podiums with second overall at the 2007 event and
third overall in 2004.
JACK DANIEL'S RACING QUOTEBOARD
Rick Kelly - #7 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore:
"For us as a team, we are all pretty excited and still pretty confident in
our ability coming out of a good event at Phillip Island, where we scored
our first podium for Kelly Racing," said Rick Kelly.
"We're pretty keen to repeat that and bring home some more silverware:
Particularly Todd because he had great pace at Phillip Island but he had
some bad luck.
"So we're coming off a bit of a high from Phillip Island going into Perth.
"Perth is a track that's quite different to anywhere else we've been. It's
obviously the first time we're going there as a team so our main aim is to
get a car set-up between all four of our cars pretty quickly at the start of
the weekend so we can tick that box as far as next year goes.
"It's the first event that we're using the soft tyre in a long time, since
before the enduros, so we need to click our heads back into that
thought-pattern and work out how to best use that through the weekend and
use that to our advantage.
"It makes it hard to get a solid result both days because you only have one
set of the soft tyres. So we've got to work out the best time to use them on
our Jack Daniel's Commodores and also how long they will last on that
surface.
"All-in-all we are looking forward to this weekend. Perth is a place that
some of our sponsors are from and it's an enjoyable place to go.
"We are going over nice and early to have a bit of a look around and support
our WA sponsors and we're looking forward to the lead in to the weekend as
well as the racing."
QUESTION: Do you think you can replicate the pace you had at Phillip Island
in Perth and do you think that the Island 300, being the second race of the
season at Phillip Island, helped your pace there because being a new team,
this year is a learning experience to some degree at each and every track?
"It certainly did help. Phillip Island the other weekend is a taste of how
we are going to be next year, because really it's the first time that we go
to all the events as a team this year.
"So Perth is going to be a little bit tougher for us compared to going back
to Phillip Island the second time. But in saying that we've still had great
pace at all the other tracks we've been to for the first time.
"We've just got to work at learning as quickly as we can and use all four
cars to our advantage to get a set-up early in the weekend."
Todd Kelly - #7 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore:
"Rick and I are both extremely happy with how our Jack Daniel's Commodores
are going at the moment and it will be good to have the second event with my
new engineer James Small," said Todd Kelly.
"We got along pretty well at Phillip Island but there are always a few
teething problems, so I'm looking forward to having another weekend with
James to get on top of that.
"I can't wait to get back in the car. We had real good pace at the last
event (at Phillip Island) but I just had a bad run with luck.
"So we're pretty confident that we can get our cars set-up really well and
have another really strong weekend in Perth."
QUESTION: How do you feel about Barbagallo? You have been fast at Phillip
Island on both visits there this year so that's obviously a track that suits
Jack Daniel's Racing. Is Barbagallo a track that could also potentially suit
you and the team?
"With the Perkins Jack Daniel's Racing Commodores last year we had a lot of
dramas with ignition and gearshift problems.
"The actual handling of the car was quite good. The car was fairly quick. We
were well inside the top 10 for most of the weekend.
"I quite enjoy the place and to evolve what we did there last time with
everything that we've learned since then with the new team and with these
new Kelly Racing Jack Daniel's Commodores especially, we're quietly
confident that we will go quite well.
"It's certainly a track that I enjoy driving on and it could potentially
suit the direction we have gone in with our cars."
-credit: kellyracing.com.au
