Kelly to debut new car at Barbagallo

Todd Kelly has given his shiny new black Jack Daniel’s Racing Commodore V8 Supercar a final polish before it was loaded into the transporter for the trip across the Nullarbor.
Kelly, who currently sits eighth in V8 points after three rounds, will debut the car at this weekend’s Perth 400 at Barbagallo Raceway.

“The new Jack Daniel’s Racing Commodore is a very, very nice race car so I’m rapt that it’s got my name on it,” Kelly said of the Holden which carries on it Jack Daniel’s famous Old No. 7 Brand.

Built in Melbourne by team owner Larry Perkins’ renowned Perkins Engineering, Kelly said the new car, chassis PE047, was drastically different to previous Perkins cars.

He said it carries the developmental front and rear suspension changes tested during the recent Hamilton 400 in New Zealand.

“The car has actually been finished for some time – we’d originally planned to have it on track at the Melbourne Grand Prix – but rather than continuing to run what we already had we’ve evolved its design,” Kelly said.

“Hamilton proved we were on the right track with the upgrades, so the time was right to introduce the new car.

“We really only previously had a top 15 car, but I’m confident we will now be well inside the top 10.”

Kelly said he was impressed with the Perkins Engineering team’s efforts to produce what he believes will be a faster, safer car.

“The amount of work the team has put in over the past few months has been incredible,” he said.

“It was only a little over four months ago I signed on with the team, but since then the changes they have been able to produce to make us more competitive have been very impressive.”