No holding back for Kelly in title fight on Surfer's str
8/11/2004 18:49 (Press Release) -
The champagne is still fresh in their race suits from success at Mount Panorama, but Kmart Racing duo Greg Murphy and Rick Kelly recognise the requirement to re-focus and have switched to ‘street fighter’ mode for this weekend’s round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series.
The temporary street circuit on the Gold Coast that plays host to this weekend’s 11th round of the V8 Supercars has proven to be a car-eater in the past, with its tight confines and concrete walls causing many teams major repair bills over the years.
But with Kelly in the championship fight, any idea of playing a game of conservation has been thrown to the wind as the 21-year-old attempts to claw back the advantage of series leader Marcos Ambrose and second-placed Jason Bright.
“There’s only three rounds to go and although there’s plenty of points up for grabs, I can’t start holding back if I’m going to be a shot at this championship,” said Kelly, who finished fifth on the Gold Coast last year in an older model VX Commodore.
“The Indy event in the past has been a worry because of the timeframe to get to the next race in New Zealand and make sure the cars are OK, but that’s not the case this year. I won’t be going out there to be reckless – I never do – but I have to really push hard.
“It would be easy to sit back and hope the other guys make mistakes without me putting anything on the line, but the reality is that that isn’t likely and we have to perform and put pressure on them to have a shot at it.”
Murphy, who won the Gold Coast V8 Supercar event when it was a non-championship event in 1997, has strong form on the streets of Surfer’s. He set the qualifying record in 2002 and finished second in last year’s event.
“With the announcement during the week that I’m moving on from Kmart Racing at the end of the year, there’s a few people around the place who think that will mean I won’t be pushing as hard,” said Murphy.
“That’s totally wrong. I really love the Gold Coast track. You can attack the chicanes and the track rewards hard driving. I’d like nothing more than to get back up on the podium after the awesome feeling of doing it again at Bathurst.
“We always have a fast car on the Gold Coast, and it’s about time we had another win there. A third two years ago, second last year … we need to continue that trend up the podium. We are riding high after our Bathurst win, and hope that we can continue the momentum in the Gillette V8 Supercar Challenge.”
Kelly will remain in the #15 Kmart Commodore that the duo used to win Bathurst, while Murphy will step back into his regular #51 mount, which was driven to eighth place at Bathurst by Steve Owen and Tim Leahey.
The Gillette V8 Supercar Challenge is round 11 of 13 in the V8 Supercar Championship Series. It will feature two races, one on Saturday of 100-kilometres in length and a 150-kilometre race on the Sunday. A compulsory pit stop for tyres will be included in each race.
Network Ten will telecast all of the Lexmark Indy 300 action from 11am to 5pm on both Saturday and Sunday, including an up close look behind the scenes at Kmart Racing’s Bathurst triumph by Tim Smith, who spent the race weekend in the team’s garage.
Release Date: 18/10/2004
K-Mart Racing
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