Kelly in two-drive deal with WPS Racing
26/11/2004 21:09 (Press Release) -
Owen Kelly, a seven-race winner in this year’s Konica Minolta V8 Supercar Series, will drive for businessman Craig Gore’s WPS Racing in the final two events on the 2004 V8 Supercar Championship Series calendar.
Kelly will drive WPS Racing’s Car 48 Ford Falcon in the Tasmania Triple Challenge at Symmons Plains Raceway next week and then back up for the BigPond Grand Finale at Eastern Creek Raceway in Sydney in December.
He became available for the final two races after finishing his Konica Minolta year with Dick Johnson Racing last month.
The move sees Kelly reunited with several former team mates, including David Besnard whom he partnered in last year’s Sandown and Bathurst endurance events.
He also rejoins WPS Racing team engineer Ian Walburn, who he worked with while driving with Paul Morris about four years ago, and WPS Racing team manager Keith Evers, who ran his Formula Ford entry in the late 1990s.
“It is a great opportunity to run in the two races and it’s nice to be working with a few familiar faces,” said Kelly.
“I’ve got huge respect for the boys and the last time I competed at Symmons Plains Wally (Ian Walburn) was my engineer and we placed second (in the 2000 Australian Super Tourer Championship).”
Kelly, a 27-year-old Tasmanian currently living in Melbourne, has repeatedly demonstrated his potential since starting in karting at age eight.
In 1998 he competed in the Victorian Formula Ford Championship and had a race win before being picked up as a test driver by Holden Young Lions.
The following year he placed second in the Formula Ford race at Indy on Queensland’s Gold Coast and earned a full time drive in the Australian Formula Ford Championship for the 2000 season.
He made an immediate impact, placing second at the Australian Grand Prix and winning at Phillip Island before funding constraints ended his season.
He was quickly picked up by Nemo Racing and made his debut appearance at Bathurst in 2000, as well as driving in the final three races of the Australian Super Tourer Championship.
He placed second in each race behind team mate Paul Morris.
In 2001 Kelly competed in the Konica V8 Supercar Series where he won the third round and came fourth in the championship.
He teamed with Ford Performance Racing for the 2003 endurance events, driving to eighth place at Sandown with Besnard.
This year he competed with Dick Johnson Racing and recorded seven race wins in the Konica Series, but two disappointing race results saw him place 5th place on the championship table.
Kelly takes the drive in the final two races of the season with WPS Racing following the departure of Alex Yoong.
Release Date: 03/11/2004
WPS Racing
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