Kelly admitted that his third and final stint of the race was his best, able to pull away from Jack Daniel's Racing team-mate and younger brother Rick Kelly in the final stages.
Rick Kelly had to do things the hard way aboard the team's #15 Commodore, qualifying in 25th position earlier today, his lowest qualifying result since Race 1 at Queensland Raceway in 2009.
But after intense analysis with Race Engineer David Swenson, Rick Kelly had an improved car set-up in this evening's race and was able to post a 13th place finish.
Kelly had been as high as 11th place, right behind Todd Kelly, but tyre wear in the final stages allowed Steven Johnson and Will Davison to pass.
Jamie Whincup won the first race of the Yas V8 400 at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi this evening ahead of Alex Davison and Mark Winterbottom.
The second and final race of the Yas V8 400 will be conducted tomorrow, when a further 20-minute qualifying session and 43-lap race is held.
JACK DANIEL'S RACING QUOTEBOARD:
TODD KELLY - #7 Holden Commodore
"What we are doing with the car set-up is quite different," said Todd Kelly.
"It wasn't really until the last stint that I actually worked it out and started driving the thing properly, then it started to hang onto its tyres quite well and the pace wasn't bad.
"The first two stints I was half driving it right, half driving it wrong and I just canned the tyres a bit.
"We are running 10th in the championship now so hopefully we can come out of the weekend with a real solid start and keep chipping away with all the stuff we are developing for our cars."
RICK KELLY - #15 Holden Commodore
"Sweno (Car #15 Race Engineer David Swenson) and I were here until late last night and back early this morning trying to get the car back in the set-up window," said Rick Kelly.
"It's always difficult when you start your weekend so low. It's very difficult to recover and qualifying showed that.
"We were 25th, which is the worst I've qualified in some time, and Sweno and I ended up getting a really good set-up for the race after all that work.
"The hard work paid off and we were able to pass a lot of cars. But it was a race hindered by so many tiny little things.
"I lost four or five spots on the first lap when there was a shunt in front of me. Both of my pit stops were quite slow, which meant I had to push hard afterwards to try and gain position, which cooked the tyres.
"With all that stuff going on if we had a better race we would have been in good shape.
"So I'm quite excited about tomorrow but I'm frustrated about all those 'niggly' things that we had today.
"Tomorrow we will go in the same direction, make the car faster, qualify better and we now have a good race car."
RESULTS: Race One (Series Race 1)
1. #88 Jamie Whincup 43 laps
2. #4 Alex Davison
3. #5 Mark Winterbottom
4. #9 Shane van Gisbergen
5. #47 Tim Slade
6. #2 Garth Tander
7. #888 Craig Lowndes
8. #61 Fabian Coulthard
9. #33 Lee Holdsworth
10. #7 Todd Kelly
13. #15 Rick Kelly
17. #16 David Reynolds
21. #11 Greg Murphy
RESULTS: Friday Qualifying
1. 888 Craig Lowndes 1:57.2290
2. 88 Jamie Whincup 1:57.4600
3. 4 Alex Davison 1:57.5290
4. 5 Mark Winterbottom 1:57.6190
5. 55 Paul Dumbrell 1:57.6280
6. 47 Tim Slade 1:57.7390
7. 8 Jason Bright 1:57.7790
8. 17 Steven Johnson 1:57.7830
9. 33 Lee Holdsworth 1:57.8130
10. 19 Jonathon Webb 1:57.9550
17. 7 Todd Kelly 1:58.2050
23. 16 David Reynolds 1:58.4800
25. 15 Rick Kelly 1:58.6070
27. 11 Greg Murphy 1:59.0560
2010 V8 Supercars Championship
Points Standings after Race 1 of 26
1. Jamie Whincup 150 points
2. Alex Davison 138
3. Mark Winterbottom 129
4. Shane van Gisbergen 120
5. Tim Slade 111
6. Garth Tander 102
7. Craig Lowndes 96
8. Fabian Coulthard 90
9. Lee Holdsworth 84
10. Todd Kelly 78
13. Rick Kelly 66
17. David Reynolds 54
21. Greg Murphy 42
YAS V8 400 DETAILS:
Circuit: Yas Marina Circuit
Location: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Circuit Length: 4.7 kilometres
Format: 43-lap race Friday, 43-lap race Saturday
2010 Friday Pole Position Winner: Jamie Whincup
2010 Friday Race Winner: Jamie Whincup
2010 Saturday Pole Position Winner: Mark Winterbottom
2010 Saturday Race Winner: Jamie Whincup
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Times below are United Arab Emirates Standard Time (GMT +4 hours)
Friday 10 February 2011
3:20pm – 3:50pm: Practice 1
4:20pm – 4:50pm: Practice 2
6:20pm – 6:50pm: Practice 3
7:20pm – 7:50pm: Practice 4
Saturday 11 February 2011
3:15am – 3:35am: Qualifying
6:35pm: Race One (Series Race 1) – 43 laps
*43 laps or 1 lap after 8:20pm
Sunday 12 February 2011
3:15am – 3:35am: Qualifying
6:35pm: Race Two (Series Race 2) – 43 laps
*43 laps or 1 lap after 8:20pm
AUS TELEVISION SCHEDULE – SEVEN NETWORK
Times subject to amendment – please check local guides
Saturday 11 February 2011
12:30pm – 1:30am: Qualifying (7mate)
1:30am – 3:30am: V8 Supercars Race 1 (Seven)
1:30pm – 4:30pm: Qualifying and Race 1 Replay (Seven)
Sunday 12 February 2011
12:30pm – 1:30am: Qualifying (7mate)
1:30am – 3:30am: V8 Supercars Race 2 (Seven)
1:30pm – 4:30pm: Qualifying and Race 2 Replay (Seven)
RACE REPLAYS – SPEED CHANNEL (FOXTEL 505 & 206)
Times subject to amendment – please check local guides
Saturday 12 February 2011: 10:00am – 12:00pm (Race 1 Highlights)
Saturday 12 February 2011: 8:00pm – 9:30pm (Race 1 Highlights)
Sunday 13 February 2011: 3:30am – 5:30am (Race 1 Highlights)
Sunday 13 February 2011: 8:30am – 10:00am (Race 1 Highlights)
Sunday 13 February 2011: 10:30am – 12:00pm (Race 2 Highlights)
Sunday 13 February 2011: 8:00pm – 9:30pm (Race 2 Highlights)
Monday 14 February 2011: 2:00am – 3:30am (Race 2 Highlights)
Monday 14 February 2011: 12:00pm – 1:30pm (Race 2 Highlights)
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