Todd Kelly qualified down in 22nd position after his fastest lap of the session was cut short by a red flag. Starting from down the order, Todd was turned around on the first lap in a multi-car incident at the Samsung sweeper.
With strong pace he worked his way back up the order to be in 14th position with 10 laps remaining, but Todd was then turned around a second time, this time by Fabian Coulthard, who was given a drive through penalty for his part in the incident.
Todd finished the race in 20th position to salvage vital championship points from the race, but given his good pace he is aiming for a top 10 result tomorrow, targeting a better qualifying performance to avoid the mid-pack carnage that ruined his day today.
Jamie Whincup won today's opening race of the ITM 400 in Hamilton ahead of Garth Tander and James Courtney.
JACK DANIEL'S RACING QUOTEBOARD
RICK KELLY - #15 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore:
"It was a tough old race again for our Jack Daniel's Commodore," said Rick Kelly.
"We hoped to be a little bit quicker in the race than that. Yesterday was a much 'pacier' day for us so it was a little bit disappointing to lack a bit of speed today.
"The points drop off very quickly from first place backwards so you need to be finishing higher than what we did today to have a good shot at a solid championship position.
"So we need to improve the car a bit and move a little bit further forward.
"On a couple of the corners our car is actually very strong compared to others so if we fix the slower ones and get the pit strategy right we should be pretty strong tomorrow.
"The weather did come into play a little bit today. It's very unnerving when you keep seeing the rain on the windscreen because you're note sure if the track grip is going away or not and you are always that little bit cautious.
"I lost a bit of time to the others under those conditions so I need to push a bit harder than that tomorrow if it rains.
"If it rains heavily tomorrow it could go our way but who knows in those wet conditions."
TODD KELLY - #7 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore:
"Realistically we were probably good enough to get up to about eighth but that was about where our car pace would have had us today," said Todd Kelly.
"I would have liked to have got up there with Rick and I was about 14th going into the last part of the race after coming from the back.
"But there were just too many stupid moves being made out there today. It was just ridiculous.
"We should have been in the top 10 today. If we hadn't have been on our fast lap when the red flag came out, we would not have got caught up in all those things in the race.
"So we need to focus on making sure that we qualifying where we need to be for the start of the race. Somewhere in the Top 10 is probably where we can get to with the car we've got at this point and we need to aim to be in the top 10.
"Of course we will try to improve the Jack Daniel's Commodore's pace so that we can be better tomorrow. With a better qualifying and a bit of luck we can be right up there."
V8 Supercar Championship Series
Points Standings after Race 7 of 26
1. Jamie Whincup 921
2. James Courtney 825
3. Mark Winterbottom 810
4. Craig Lowndes 672
5. Lee Holdsworth 651
6. Shane Van Gisbergen 630
7. Rick Kelly 620
8. Garth Tander 585
9. Paul Dumbrell 573
10. Michael Caruso 573
22. Todd Kelly 282
RESULTS: Race One (Series Race 7)
1. #1 Jamie Whincup – 59 laps
2. #2 Garth Tander
3. #18 James Courtney
4. #888 Craig Lowndes
5. #34 Michael Caruso
6. #17 Steven Johnson
7. #5 Mark Winterbottom
8. #15 Rick Kelly
9. #55 Paul Dumbrell
10. #33 Lee Holdsworth
20. #7 Todd Kelly
RESULTS: Top 10 Shootout
1. #1 Jamie Whincup 1:23.2690
2. #2 Garth Tander 1:23.4213
3. #34 Michael Caruso 1:23.5445
4. #888 Craig Lowndes 1:23.5799
5. #17 Steven Johnson 1:23.6354
6. #24 Fabian Coulthard 1:23.6586
7. #15 Rick Kelly 1:23.6760
8. #3 Tony D'Alberto 1:23.8081
9. #18 James Courtney 1:23.9163
10. #5 Mark Winterbottom 1:23.9946
RESULTS: Saturday Qualifying
1. #2 Garth Tander 1:23.0653
2. #18 James Courtney 1:23.2135
3. #3 Tony D'Alberto 1:23.3940
4. #1 Jamie Whincup 1:23.3946
5. #34 Michael Caruso 1:23.4214
6. #24 Fabian Coulthard 1:23.4416
7. #5 Mark Winterbottom 1:23.4899
8. #15 Rick Kelly 1:23.5070
9. #17 Steven Johnson 1:23.5259
10. #888 Craig Lowndes 1:23.5443
19. #7 Todd Kelly 1:24.0221
ITM 400 DETAILS:
Circuit: Hamilton Street Circuit
Location: Hamilton, New Zealand
Circuit Length: 3.4 kilometres
Average Speed: 141 km/h
Maximum Speed: 248 km/h
Format: 200 km race Saturday and Sunday
2009 Attendance: 121,836 (three days)
2009 Saturday Pole Position: Mark Winterbottom
2009 Saturday Race Winner: Jamie Whincup
2009 Sunday Pole Position: James Courtney
2009 Sunday Race Winner: Jamie Whincup
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Times below are New Zealand Standard Time (GMT + 12 hours)
Friday 16 April 2010
10:05am – 10:30am: Practice 1 (Rookies & Lower 50%)
12:10pm – 12:40pm: Practice 2 (Rookies & Lower 50%)
2:20pm – 2:50pm: Practice 3
3:50pm – 4:20pm: Practice 4
Saturday 17 April 2010
10:30am – 10:50am: Qualifying
11:30am: Top 10 Shootout
3:05pm: Race 1 (Series Race 7) – 59 laps
Sunday 18 April 2010
11:00am –11:20am: Qualifying
3:05pm –Race 2 (Series Race 8) – 59 laps
AUS TELEVISION SCHEDULE – SEVEN NETWORK
Times subject to amendment – please check local guides
Saturday 17 April 2010
1:30pm – 5:00pm (V8 Supercars Race 1)
Sunday 18 April 2010
NSW/ACT/QLD: 12:00pm – 1:00pm and 3:45pm – 5:30pm (V8 Supercars Race 2)
VIC: 12:00pm – 3:00pm (V8 Supercars Race 2)
SA: 12:30pm – 1:30pm and 4:15pm – 6:00pm (V8 Supercars Race 2)
WA: 11:30am – 2:30pm (V8 Supercars Race 2)
NZL TELEVISION SCHEDULE – TV3
Times subject to amendment – please check local guides
Friday 16 April 2010
4:30pm – 5:30pm (V8 Supercars Practice)
Saturday 17 April 2010
12:00pm – 6:00pm (V8 Supercars Race 1)
Sunday 18 April 2010
12:00pm – 6:00pm (V8 Supercars Race 2)
