Kelly wins the last of 2008

Rick Kelly delivered his HSV Dealer Team with the result they have been looking for all year, taking out the third and final Race victory at Oran Park in superb fashion. Kelly got off to a blinding start in the final 46 lap race, putting his #15 HSV Dealer Team prepared Commodore in first position on the track, where he led the field for most of the race.

Kelly pitted mid way through the compulsory window, the HSVDT crew performing one of the smoothest pit stops under enormous pressure. Kelly led former team-mate and Toll Holden Racing team pilot Garth Tander, who just couldn’t match the power of the #15 car. Kelly not only sealed the race win but also finished on the podium collecting 236 Championship points which put him third – his first Championship Round podium since the Sandown 500 last year.

The #16 Autobarn driver and Kelly’s team-mate Paul Dumbrell put in a remarkable effort in the final race. Dumbrell started from 16th in the third race, having made up position in the second race earlier today. He was caught up in a first lap scramble which left him wide and in the dirt at the first corner. Dumbrell was pushed to second last but was able to recover to 13th by the end of the race and finished just behind Mark Skaife, in his last appearance.

Dumbrell adopted an early pit strategy coming in around lap 8 to take on two fresh rear tyres. Dumbrell then made his way up the field, taking on each car one by one, getting past Steven Richards, Steven Johnson and Jason Richards. He managed to settle into rhythm in 13th where he finished the race.

Earlier in Race 2 Kelly made up a considerable number of positions finishing just outside the top three in fourth position. He found himself embroiled in a battle with Ford’s Craig Lowndes towards the end of the race, managing to defend his fourth placing and putting himself in a healthy position for the third and final race for the weekend.

Dumbrell drove consistently in the second race, trying to regain position after yesterday’s disappointing results. Dumbrell made up 10 positions during the first race and in the second race this morning managed to pick up an additional three spots to finish 16th. He started off well moving up to 18th on the opening lap and made it up to 15th as the pit stops started to unfold, pitting for tyres as Championship winner Jamie Whincup retired from the race. He looked set to gain another position but ran out of laps to be able to make a move on Davison. He was a mere 0.4 seconds behind the Ford driver.

Holden’s Garth Tander took out the second race win with fellow Holden driver Russell Ingall in second. Steven Richards filled the final spot in the top three.

Kelly’s final race win gave him third for the Round, with Craig Lowndes finishing second and the Toll Holden Racing Team’s Garth Tander in first spot – collecting his fourth Round win for the year.

“It was a fantastic race, it was a bit greasy on the first lap. We got off to a great start and managed to make our way up to the front. The pace the car had was unbelievable, we built a little bit of a gap and I was quite surprised because we started on tyres that were a little older than the ones we eventually used after pitting.

“I am pretty happy, we had our new car back for the weekend, obviously since the crash at Bathurst and it was great to end the year on a high for the whole team.”

“On and off the speed was there, we had a few misfortunes throughout the year and I guess 2006 and 2007 for us were two fantastic years and unfortunately 2008 wasn’t quite as good. That is the way it is and hopefully 2009 is a better year.”

Kelly made it up to seventh in the Championship points table after his podium this weekend. Dumbrell collected 114 points to finish 21st on the leader board.

The NRMA Grand Finale completes the V8 Supercar season for 2008 and marks the end to the full time driving career of Holden’s Mark Skaife. The V8 Supercar field paid tribute to Skaife earlier today during the drivers’ parade.

Skaife has been one of the most decorated drivers of the modern era.

The first Round of the 2009 season is the Clipsal 500 on the streets of Adelaide from March 19 – 22.