Photo: Kelly Racing

Chelsea Angelo inks Kelly Racing deal to drive Opel Astra

Chelsea Angelo has signed a contract with Kelly Racing to drive an Opel Astra TCR for Kelly Racing in the inaugural TCR Australia series season, becoming the third confirmed female driver in the series.

“It’s incredible to confirm that I will race in TCR this year,” said Angelo.

“I wasn’t sure what my racing options were at the start of the season, but when I saw that TCR was coming here, I always felt that it was a great category for myself. There’s a lot of ex-Supercars drivers in there, plus Porsche drivers, rally car drivers, a few females. It’s a real mixed bag.”

Angelo has previously driven single seaters, GT cars and touring cars in the form of the Super2 Supercars series, most recently finishing fifth overall in the 2018 Porsche Michelin GT3 Cup Challenge Australia.

“I’ve never raced a front wheel drive car before and I’ll be trying to get my head around it as fast as I can,” said Angelo.

“It will be interesting. When I tested at Winton last week, one of the things I found tricky was trying to get the temperature of the rear tyres up. I’ve been speaking to a lot of people to learn as much as I can before we get to Sydney. I have absolutely no expectations, so it’s nice to go there with an open mind set.”

The 22-year-old join Kelly Racing team-mates Alex Rullo and Molly Taylor, with the team running four cars in total, two Opels and two Subarus. Angelo got to test a Subaru during the official TCR Australia pre-season test at Winton last week.