Rick Kelly currently sits in seventh position in the series standings, just four points out of the top five. Having showed strong pace in his #15 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore at the last event in New Zealand, Rick is aiming to have a strong weekend in Ipswich.
Todd Kelly has also shown strong pace this season in the #7 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore but is targeting an improved performance in qualifying with the aim of avoiding the midfield carnage that has caught him out several times so far this season.
JACK DANIEL'S RACING QUOTEBOARD
RICK KELLY - #15 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore:
"We continue to work hard on our cars and in New Zealand our Jack Daniel's Commodore was good," said Rick Kelly.
"In the second race in Hamilton we were fighting for third until we had a problem at our pit stop.
"As a team we have good confidence in our cars now so moving to Queensland it's quite exciting to head to that round, which is the first full soft tyre round.
"We are, as most teams are, a little unsure as to how it's going to go running the full event on that tyre and the set-up it's going to require.
"The key is obviously going to be tyre degradation and how you are going to manage that, because once your tyres do go away the lap times drop away quite dramatically.
"It's good for a change. It's going to probably bring a few different drivers to the front of the field, which is great.
"The soft tyre tended to do that in the past but obviously that was when you had the mix of both soft and hard compound tyres in a race.
"You could see some cars qualify really well and be very fast in the first five or 10 laps, then as their tyres fall off quicker than others you could see them fall back through the pack at a great rate of knots.
"You could end up being 1.5 seconds a lap slower than the leaders if your car doesn't look after its tyres properly.
"So there is going to be a lot of passing and there's going to be a few drivers up the front that may over-cook their tyres while fighting with each other.
"It is really going to be 100 percent about tyre management and it's a new challenge, something different for us and something that I'm looking forward to."
TODD KELLY - #7 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore:
"It's not how fast your car is, it's how well you manage your tyres that's is going to win this event," said Todd Kelly.
"With that in mind I'm really looking forward to the racing this weekend. It's a new challenge and I'm hoping that the soft tyre scenario and everything that it will throw at the teams will end up falling our way and we can get some better results.
"Using the soft tyre for all the racing is something of an unknown so that should create some action out on-track, but I'd certainly like to qualify a bit better to avoid some of the stuff that you can get caught up in mid-pack.
"It's also an exciting weekend for Kelly Racing as a whole.
"We are making our debut in the Fujitsu Series and it's the first time we've run five cars on the one weekend, which is a pretty cool thing for the team.
"It's a massive challenge but we are lucky to have such a great team of professional people so I'm really looking forward to the weekend."
KEY FACTS:
- Soft tyres all round in Queensland ...
* For the first time in V8 Supercar history the two races held at the Ipswich 300 will be staged entirely on the Dunlop 'sprint' tyre
* The softer, faster wearing tyre features higher grip and higher wear rate. It was introduced last year but with only one set given to each team per event
* Each car is allowed the following tyre bank this weekend:
- EIGHT control tyres from previous events (not allowed to be used in races)
- FOUR 'Test' Sprint tyres (to be used in practice only)
- TWENTY Sprint tyres
- TWELVE Wet tyres
- Owen Kelly confirmed at Jack Daniel's Racing ...
* The Kelly Gang has a new recruit with the news that Owen Kelly will race with either Todd or Rick Kelly at the endurance events at Phillip Island and Bathurst later this year
* Owen Kelly will drive Rick Kelly's #15 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore in the first two practice sessions at Queensland Raceway, with those two sessions reserved for Rookie drivers, endurance event Co-Drivers and those drivers sitting outside the top 15 in the series standings
* Former IndyCar Series champion and Indy 500 winner Scott Dixon has also been confirmed as the star 'international' recruit for Jack Daniel's Racing for the Armor All Gold Coast 600 at Surfers Paradise in October
- Kelly Racing makes Fujitsu Series debut in Ipswich...
* Owen Kelly, endurance driver for Jack Daniel's Racing, will drive the team's #77 Metaland Holden Commodore in Round 2 of the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series to gain vital track time ahead of the endurance events later this year
* Kelly has an impressive record in the second-tier V8 Supercar series, third on the all-time race win list with 13 victories. Kelly, originally from Tasmania and no relation to Todd and Rick, also has four round wins, seven round podiums, two pole positions and nine fastest laps from his 20 previous Fujitsu V8 Supercar event starts
* The car will be engineered by Jack Daniel's Racing data engineer Peter Craik and prepared by experienced Kelly Racing mechanics Mike Gennery, Daniel Young and Rodney Frith, who all have vast V8 Supercar experience and now hold workshop-based positions
V8 Supercar Championship Series Points Standings
After Race 8 of 26
1. Jamie Whincup 1071
2. James Courtney 867
3. Mark Winterbottom 810
4. Lee Holdsworth 771
5. Shane Van Gisbergen 726
6. Garth Tander 723
7. Rick Kelly 722
8. Craig Lowndes 720
9. Michael Caruso 702
10. Paul Dumbrell 618
20. Todd Kelly 372
IPSWICH 300 DETAILS:
Circuit: Queensland Raceway
Location: Willowbank, Queensland
Circuit Length: 3.12 kilometres
Average Speed: 162 km/h
Maximum Speed: 255 km/h
Format: 120km race Saturday and 200km race Sunday
2009 Attendance: 48,986 (three days)
2009 Saturday Pole Position: Jamie Whincup
2009 Saturday Race Winner: Jamie Whincup
2009 Sunday Pole Position: Mark Winterbottom
2009 Sunday Race Winner: Will Davison
JACK DANIEL'S RACING DRIVERS AT IPSWICH
Todd Kelly - #7 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore:
2009 Saturday Qualifying: Sixth
2009 Saturday Race: 10th
2009 Sunday Qualifying: 21st
2009 Sunday Race: 18th
Event Debut: 1999
Events: 12
Races: 21
Best Qualifying: Third (2004)
Top 10 in Qualifying: Four
Best Race Finish: Third (2001 and 2003)
Top 10 Finish in Race: Seven
Rick Kelly - #15 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore:
2009 Saturday Qualifying: 28th
2009 Saturday Race: 14th
2009 Sunday Qualifying: 10th
2009 Sunday Race: 18th
Event Debut: 2001
Events: Nine
Races: 16
Best Qualifying: Fourth (2006)
Top 10 in Qualifying: Four
Best Race Finish: Second (2006)
Top 10 Finish in Race: Seven
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Times below are Australian Eastern Standard Time (GMT + 10 hours)
Friday 30 April 2010
10:55am – 11:25am: Practice 1 (Rookies, Co-Drivers & Lower 50%)
12:10pm – 12:40pm: Practice 2 (Rookies, Co-Drivers & Lower 50%)
1:35pm – 1:55pm: Practice 3
3:00pm – 3:30pm: Practice 4
Saturday 1 May 2010
11:20am – 11:40am: Qualifying
12:25pm: Top 10 Shootout
4:05pm: Race 1 (Series Race 9) – 38 laps
Sunday 2 May 2010
10:15am –10:35am: Qualifying
1:05pm: Race 2 (Series Race 10) – 65 laps
AUS TELEVISION SCHEDULE – SEVEN NETWORK
Times subject to amendment – please check local guides
Saturday 1 May 2010
2:00pm – 5:30pm (V8 Supercars Race 1)
Sunday 2 May 2010
12:00pm – 3:00pm (V8 Supercars Race 2)
Monday 3 May 2010 (Replay on Fox Sports 3)
5:00pm – 7:30pm (V8 Supercars Race 1 and 2 Highlights)
Saturday 8 May 2010
1:30pm – 2:30pm (Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series)
