22 March 2009 / RICK KELLY SITS EIGHTH IN POINTS AFTER CLIPSAL 500
Two top 10s for Rick Kelly in Adelaide / Todd Kelly crashes with steering failure while running 12th / Rick eighth in points while Todd lies 16th entering non-points Grand Prix event
Rick Kelly has made it two top 10 finishes in the debut event for Kelly Racing and his first in the black and white of Jack Daniel’s Racing in the second race of the 2009 Clipsal 500 in Adelaide today.
Kelly drove his brand-new #15 Jack Daniel’s Racing Holden Commodore through the pack for the second time this weekend to finish in 10th position after starting from 17th on the grid.
The two 10th place results put Rick Kelly in eighth position in the V8 Supercar Championship Series after the first of 14 events this season.
Todd Kelly looked set to join his brother in posting two solid finishes in the opening event of the season, but crashed out as a result of steering failure with nine laps remaining.
Todd Kelly was running in 12th position when contact with Jason Bright damaged the steering on the #7 Jack Daniel’s Racing Holden Commodore.
Exiting the Senna Chicane the 29-year-old had the steering fail and his car went straight on, making contact with the outside barrier and ending his race.
Jamie Whincup won today’s his second-consecutive Clipsal 500 in Adelaide today ahead of team-mates Will Davison and Garth Tander.
Jack Daniel’s Racing will be back in action next weekend at the Australian F1 Grand Prix at Albert Park in Melbourne for a non-championship event, where both drivers will seek to gain more experience in their new cars as part of the new Kelly Racing operation.
JACK DANIEL’S RACING QUOTEBOARD
Rick Kelly - #15 Jack Daniel’s Racing Holden Commodore
“I think with all the little problems we had throughout both the races, to come out eighth in the championship is a great effort,” said Rick Kelly.
“The whole team has done a great job this weekend considering a few of the little problems that we’ve had.
“All those problems have been little things we couldn’t really prevent.
“So for a first outing for the whole team it was just a spot-on job.
“A few things frustrated me – one is the qualifying set-up for this year, which hindered us this weekend.
“The other was a couple drivers out there who have got no respect, which also hindered us. We got turned around and still got back to 10th place.
“I think we can go away a little frustrated in that we have got a car that’s capable of doing better but still be happy with this result.”
Todd Kelly - #7 Jack Daniel’s Racing Holden Commodore
“It’s always a shame to get that close to the end and then have a drama,” said Todd Kelly.
“When (Jason) Bright passed me coming onto the straight I got sideways and he clipped my right front and then he and Rick both got passed.
“When I turned into the first left hander at the chicane it turned in OK.
“I went over the Turn 2 kerb as normal, then turning into the kink the car just went straight on into the wall.
“So it’s broken the right front after it’s hit the kerb. It’s hit the wall reasonably hard so we’ve got to get it back to the Kelly Racing workshop and see how much damage we’ve got to repair.
“Getting an event under our belt, we’ve now got pages and pages of things we need to address and improve on.
“This is our first race as a brand new team so given that, I think the weekend wasn’t too bad.”
RESULTS: Clipsal 500 – Race Two
Event One in the 2009 V8 Supercar Championship Series
1. #1 Jamie Whincup – 78 laps
2. #22 Will Davison
3. #2 Garth Tander
4. #888 Craig Lowndes
5. #33 Lee Holdsworth
6. #18 Steven Johnson
7. #8 Jason Richards
8. #51 Greg Murphy
9. #6 Steven Johnson
10. #15 Rick Kelly
DNF #7 Todd Kelly – 69 laps
DNF #16 Dale Wood – 57 laps
DNF #11 Jack Perkins – 0 laps
RESULTS: Clipsal 500 – Race One
1. #1 Jamie Whincup – 78 laps
2. #33 Lee Holdsworth
3. #22 Will Davison
4. #17 Steven Johnson
5. #8 Jason Richard
6. #9 Shane Van Gisbergen
7. #7 Todd Kelly
8. #39 Russell Ingall
9. #14 Cameron McConville
10. #15 Rick Kelly
14. #16 Dale Wood
DNF #11 Jack Perkins – 27 laps
RESULTS: Qualifying
1. #1 Jamie Whincup 1:21.8123
2. #888 Craig Lowndes 1:22.0668
3. #2 Garth Tander 1:22.1887
4. #18 James Courtney 1:22.3369
5. #111 Fabian Coulthard 1:22.3919
6. #10 Paul Dumbrell 1:22.5136
7. #22 Will Davison 1:22.7285
8. #8 Jason Richards 1:25.4188
9. #5 Mark Winterbottom – time disallowed for kerb hopping
10. #33 Lee Holdsworth – time disallowed for kerb hopping
17. #15 Rick Kelly 1:22.1090
24. #7 Todd Kelly 1:22.8853
25. #11 Jack Perkins 1:23.0927
DNS #16 Dale Wood no time
2009 V8 Supercar Championship Series
Driver’s Standings after Event 1 of 14
1. Jamie Whincup 300
2. Will Davison 267
3. Lee Holdsworth 249
4. Steven Johnson 222
5. Jason Richards 207
6. Craig Lowndes 168
7. Shane Van Gisbergen 168
8. Rick Kelly 156
9. Russell Ingall 150
10. Jason Bright 141
16. Todd Kelly 96
24. Dale Wood 63
30. Jack Perkins 0
Team’s Standings after Event 1 of 14
1. Triple Eight Race Engineering 468
2. Holden Racing Team 396
3. Brad Jones Racing 333
4. Garry Rogers Motorsport 306
5. Dick Johnson Racing 300
6. Stone Brothers Racing 258
7. Jack Daniel’s Racing 252
8. Paul Cruickshank Racing 189
9. Ford Performance Racing 174
10. Walkinshaw Racing 174
16. Kelly Racing 63