Kmart Racing's Rick Kelly Masters The Wet To Claim His First Solo V8 Supercar Victory
14/4/2004 22:29 (Press Release) -
21-year-old storms from 17th starting position to win rain shortened Eastern Creek 300, teammate Greg Murphy fifth. Kmart Racing’s Rick Kelly has produced one of the drives of his short career, storming from 17th place on the grid to take out the second round of the V8 Supercar Series at Eastern Creek Raceway in Sydney.
It was the first solo championship round victory for the 21-year-old former V8 Supercar rookie of the year, and the second round win of his career, joining Bathurst which he won with Kmart Racing team-mate Greg Murphy last October.
“This is a great result, not only for me but also my Kmart Racing team-mates who have worked extremely hard all weekend and never gave in, it feels absolutely fantastic,” an elated Kelly said afterwards.
Kelly said the win gives him hope of winning the championship.
“I have always had high expectations. I know if we’ve got the car speed we can run up the front. We’re here to win the championship, that’s why we’re racing,” he said.
Kelly and Murphy struggled with car speed in the dry conditions during practice and qualifying, the Kmart Racing Commodores lining up in 17th and 12th place respectively for the start of yesterday’s 77-lap race. But the clouds opened up on race day and the speed of the Kmart Commodores in the wet was evident in the morning warm-up session, Kelly quickest, Murphy not far behind.
“If this race had been run yesterday, we clearly wouldn’t have been in contention, but the conditions changed and our car was incredible in the wet. Apart from having a problem changing a wheel during our pit-stop, we had a very good run today and seemed to have no trouble passing other cars, either down the inside or around the outside,” Kelly said.
As happened during last year’s championship-ending Main Event at Eastern Creek, torrential rain brought an early end to the race, with the race under Safety Car conditions, the chequered flag waving 10 laps earlier than scheduled.
“It was the correct decision to make, the conditions made it impossible and unsafe to continue the race and I was relieved to see the flag come out. Had we returned to racing, though, I was confident we had the speed to stay in front until the finish,” Kelly said.
Murphy’s run to fifth was interrupted by contact with another car early in the race, the subsequent earlier than scheduled pit stop for tyres and panel repairs to the damaged front guard dropping him back to 31st position.
“It wasn’t the greatest way to start the day, but our car set-up suited the race conditions perfectly and we were able to fight our way back with good pit stops and a couple of breaks with the Safety Car,” Murphy said.
“We came here hoping for much better and were bitterly disappointed with practice and qualifying, but fifth is a good result when you take in the big picture of the championship.”
Kmart Racing team manager Rob Crawford was understandably delighted with Kelly’s win and Murphy’s fifth place finish.
“Today’s performance is an indication of the quality of this Kmart Racing team. We struggled badly during practice and qualifying, and we’ve got some real issues still to resolve with our car speed in certain situations, but despite the dramas everyone on the team kept their heads down and worked towards a common goal. I am really proud of this Kmart Racing team.”
The next round of the V8 Supercar Series is the Placemakers V8 International, which will be held at Pukekohe Raceway near Auckland in New Zealand on 30 April – 2 May 2004.
Eastern Creek 300 results (77 laps): 1. Rick Kelly - Kmart Racing VY Commodore; 2. Craig Lowndes - CAT FPR Falcon; 3. Garth Tander - Repco Valvoline Cummins Commodore; 4. Steven Richards - Castrol Perkins Commodore; 5. Greg Murphy - Kmart Commodore; 6. Steven Johnson - Shell Helix Falcon; 7. Marcos Ambrose - Pirtek Falcon; 8. Jason Bargwanna - Orrcon Steel Falcon; 9.
Craig Baird - Team Kiwi Commodore; 10. Max Wilson - Betta Electrical Triple 8 Falcon
Championship positions (following two of 13 rounds): 1. Steven Richards – 360; 2. Marcos Ambrose – 348; 3. Rick Kelly – 336; 4. Greg Murphy – 327; 5. Jason Bargwanna – 270; 6. Jason Bright – 267; 7. Paul Morris – 264; 8. Craig Baird – 258; 9. Garth Tander – 222; 10. John Bowe 216
Release Date: 04/04/2004
Kmart Racing
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