Todd Kelly qualified down in 18th position but had great car speed at the 5.41-kilometre circuit today and charged up the order to be in seventh spot in the dying stages of the race.
Unfortunately for Todd Kelly, he was forced to make a third fuel stop with two laps remaining to ensure he reached the finish, with the extra pit stop consigning him to 20th position.
Jamie Whincup won today's opening race of the Gulf Air Desert 400 at the Bahrain International Circuit ahead of Mark Winterbottom and Craig Lowndes.
JACK DANIEL'S RACING QUOTEBOARD
Rick Kelly - #15 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore:
"Through parts of the race the Jack Daniel's Commodore was extremely good and then in parts of the race it wasn't as good as others around us," said Rick Kelly.
"It's a pretty clear indication of what we need to do in terms of set-up, given that we did have good pace at different stages of the race.
"I'm a little disappointed that I slipped back a couple of spots there. I got a little hot under the collar, which I need to trim in a little bit.
"But ninth is not too bad. It's tough out there and a few guys have slipped back again today, so to get ninth is pretty good.
"I'm looking forward to tomorrow. With the good traits that the car did have today, a bit like Abu Dhabi I think we can improve for the second race of the weekend and have a really good Saturday race."
Todd Kelly - #7 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore:
"It's a shame about what happened but in the end we have got some good tyres and we will have a go again tomorrow," said Todd Kelly.
"For once, I got a clean first lap and I went from 18th to about 13th. We had some really old tyres on the back of the car for the start of the race so that was quite encouraging.
"Once we came in and put a better set of tyres on the Jack Daniel's Commodore was fine. I spent the whole race basically trying to save fuel and short-shifting, so given that our pace was actually not too bad because I was holding position even driving the car like that.
"The misfire is still there. It's a little bit better but every now and then it still does it.
"We don't know what else to chance. If we change the engine it wont fix it because we are picking it up before the engine so it's something that electrical."
V8 Supercar Championship Series Points Standings
After Race 3 of 26
1. Jamie Whincup 450 points
2. Mark Winterbottom 405
3. Craig Lowndes 378
4. Shane Van Gisbergen 342
5. James Courtney 324
6. Rick Kelly 282
7. Lee Holdsworth 276
8. Steven Johnson 224
9. Michael Caruso 210
10. Russell Ingall 204
24. Todd Kelly 102
RESULTS: Gulf Air Desert 400 Race 1 (Series Race 3)
1. #1 Jamie Whincup 37 laps
2. #5 Mark Winterbottom
3. #888 Craig Lowndes
4. #2 Garth Tander
5. # 9 Shane Van Gisbergen
6. #18 James Courtney
7. #39 Russell Ingall
8. #22 Will Davison
9. #15 Rick Kelly
10. #34 Michael Caruso
20. #7 Todd Kelly
RESULTS: Top 10 Shootout
1. #1 Jamie Whincup 2:04.5189
2. #9 Shane Van Gisbergen 2:04.7601
3. #5 Mark Winterbottom 2:04.8245
4. #2 Garth Tander 2:05.1780
5. #18 James Courtney 2:05.2142
6. #22 Will Davison 2:05.4901
7. 36 Steven Richards 2:05.5247
8. #888 Craig Lowndes 2:05.5945
9. #51 Greg Murphy 2:06.2238
10. #39 Russell Ingall 2:06.2445
RESULTS: Qualifying
1. #1 Jamie Whincup 2:05.1657
2. #888 Craig Lowndes 2:05.4957
3. #2 Garth Tander 2:05.5089
4. #9 Shane Van Gisbergen 2:05.6061
5. #51 Greg Murphy 2:05.6877
6. #39 Russell Ingall 2:05.7791
7. #18 James Courtney 2:05.7921
8. #5 Mark Winterbottom 2:05.8189
9. #6 Steven Richards 2:05.9267
10. #22 Will Davison 2:06.0064
13. #15 Rick Kelly 2:06.1876
18. #7 Todd Kelly 2:06.5219
GULF AIR DESERT 400 DETAILS:
Circuit: Bahrain International Circuit
Location: Sakhir, Bahrain
Circuit Length: 5.41 kilometres
Format: 200km race Saturday and Sunday
2008 Pole Winner: Jamie Whincup
2008 Race 1 Winner: Jamie Whincup
2008 Race 2 Winner: Jamie Whincup
2008 Race 3 Winner Jamie Whincup
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Times below are local Bahrain Times (GMT + 3 hours)
Thursday 25 February
11:20am – 12:00pm: Practice 1 (Rookies & Lower 50%)
12:30pm – 1:10pm: Practice 2 (Rookies & Lower 50%)
1:40pm – 2:20pm: Practice 3
2:50pm – 3:30pm: Practice 4
Friday 26 February
11:10am – 11:30am: Qualifying (20 minutes)
12:00pm: Top 10 Shootout
3:35pm: Race 1 (Series Race 3) – 37 laps
Saturday 27 February
12:20pm – 12:40pm: Qualifying
3:35pm –Race 2 (Series Race 4) – 37 laps
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Times below are Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Times (GMT + 11 hours)
Thursday 25 February
7:20pm – 8:00pm: Practice 1 (Rookies & Lower 50%)
8:30pm – 9:10pm: Practice 2 (Rookies & Lower 50%)
9:40pm – 10:20pm: Practice 3
10:50pm – 11:30pm: Practice 4
Friday 26 February
7:10pm – 7:30pm: Qualifying (20 minutes)
8:00pm: Top 10 Shootout
11:35pm: Race 1 (Series Race 3) – 37 laps
Saturday 27 February
8:20pm – 8:40pm: Qualifying
11:35pm –Race 2 (Series Race 4) – 37 laps
TELEVISION SCHEDULE – SEVEN NETWORK
Times subject to amendment – please check local guides
Saturday 27 February 2010
1:30pm – 4:30pm AEDST (V8 Supercars Race 1)
Sunday 28 February 2010
1:30pm – 4:30pm AEDST (V8 Supercars Race 2)
