Kelly Brothers suffer late at Bathurst

Last weekend’s Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 saw a brilliant performance from the Jack Daniel’s racing pairing of Rick and Todd Kelly, but sadly bad luck caused heart ache late on.

Weather was a major concern for all at the Bathurst event, in which rain affected both qualifying and the race itself.

Todd, who celebrated his 30th birthday on the Friday, duly delivered a big result in qualifying, as he drove his way to eighth fastest, and a place in Saturday’s Top 10 Shootout.

By the time the shootout began on the Saturday, the forecast rain had fallen during the morning, leaving a drying, but still damp surface around Mount Panorama.

Todd proceeded to claim seventh in the shootout, but felt the weather had affected their performance, with the track drying more so for later competitors.

“The places where we were strong before it rained, we completely weren’t in the Shootout. I was using all the road I could up the top but you just couldn’t go near any of the walls up there because there was water sitting along all the edges of the track”, said Todd.

Rick was obviously disappointed with the qualifying result, stating “Obviously seventh is probably a little further back than we would like and definitely further back than the car’s true pace, it’s just that with the rain, the track was wet when we did our lap and whoever went last was definitely in the best conditions to get the pole”.

The team had spent the morning practice session developing their race pace, and Rick had this to say of the outcome “We managed to get the Jack Daniel’s Commodore very comfortable for the race on full tanks, so that’s great for us”.

Early into the race itself, the track conditions were similar to that of the shootout, and the Kelly brothers set about making a strong start despite the circuit being slippery.

An excellent strategy call saw the #7 Jack Daniel’s Commodore pit early to change to slick tyres, a move which saw their lap times fall dramatically, and their position improve no end.

However, the first setback of the day was just around the corner. A number of tyre delamination issues on the rear left hand side cost valuable time.

A further setback happened later in the race, as Rick was on-board the car.

Jim Beam Racing’s James Courtney spun, and as Rick slowed to avoid the stricken Ford Falcon of Courtney, he was hit from behind by Jonathan Webb.

The contact caused the diffuser to become loose, which resulted in the #7 car making another trip to the pits, this time thanks to a mechanical black flag.

The diffuser was removed at the pit stop, but the loss caused the handling of the car to deteriorate. The handling woes were further added to as the car developed problems with the rear wing.

Despite all of the day’s dramas, Rick was holding second, and the entry had once challenged for the lead of the race.

It looked as though Rick may hold onto second in the closing stages, despite the handling of the car deteriorating drastically, but after a late safety car intervention came heart ache for the Kelly’s, and the entire Jack Daniel’s Racing team.

Rick was obviously struggling more and more with each lap, and Jason Richards took the opportunity to make a robust pass, which in turn saw a whole string of cars get by as well.

At the chequered flag Rick was eighth overall, a mere ten seconds behind the race winning entry of Garth Tander and Will Davison, which is a remarkable result given the challenges faced by the Kelly brothers through the 1000km, 161-lap, race.

Speaking after the race, Todd said “For the dramas we had, everyone in the team did a fantastic job and we’ve definitely got the team and the equipment to do this 100 percent, no dramas”.

Rick couldn’t hide his disappointment, and said “There was just nothing we could have done. While the Jack Daniel’s Commodore was in one piece it was the quickest car I’ve had here in a long time and one that was definitely capable of winning the race”.

He added that “The car was just too damaged at the end to hold on to second. I did the best I can and I don’t think I could have done much more”.

Had the many bouts of bad luck been avoided, Todd’s summation of the race could very well have held true, “We could have had that one”.