Nissan Motorsport made a promising start in the manufacturer’s V8 Supercars Championship debut at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide, South Australia over the weekend.
In the race debut of the Nissan Altima V8 Supercar, the Kelly Racing team performed admirably to be immediately competitive, a positive sign for the season ahead.
The team was knocking on the door of the top 10 all weekend, as highlighted by Michael Caruso qualifying in 13th position on Friday, and Rick Kelly finishing 11th in Saturday’s opening 78-lap race.
Both Rick Kelly and James Moffat leave Adelaide with a solid bank of championship points, sitting in 11th and 12th respectively in the drivers championship standings after both posting two top 15 finishes at the Adelaide Parklands street circuit.
Todd Kelly showed great pace but failed to finish both races, due to power steering issues on Saturday, and becoming the victim of a multi-car accident on Sunday.
Michael Caruso finished Saturday’s race in 23rd place after a lengthy pit stop for steering repairs, but was forced to retire from Sunday’s race as a result of both cool suit failure and the loss of fourth gear.
Nissan Motorsport will be back on-track in two weeks time at the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix and the Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit in Melbourne, Victoria.
Rick Kelly – #15 Jack Daniel’s Nissan Altima – says “It was a really good race, obviously we were a little bit slow around the pits today, but we trucked away and were 11th at the Safety Car.
“I was really happy about the race at that point. I put a good pass on (Scott) Pye who had more straight line speed than us, which was quite obvious. For us that was really, really good and a top 10 was well within our sights at the restart.
James Moffat – #360 Norton Nissan Altima – payed credit to Nissan Motorsport: “To finish 500 kilometres with no dramas is full credit to them.
“We come out of here with a straight car and we can head to the Grand Prix, where we don’t have points on the line, and hopefully we can try a few things and learn from that.
“I’m really excited about the car we have underneath us because when we find a bit of engine power, we are going to be up there giving them a hard time, which is good.”
Results – 2013 CLIPSAL 500; 2013 V8 Supercars Championship
Driver’s Standings after Race 2
1. Craig Lowndes 279
2. Jamie Whincup 267
3. Will Davison 240
4. Russell Ingall 198
5. James Courtney 192
6. Scott McLaughlin 186
7. Jonathon Webb 168
8. Tony D’Alberto 159
9. Shane van Gisbergen 150
10. Scott Pye 138
11. Rick Kelly 135 (#15 Jack Daniel’s Nissan Altima)
12. James Moffat 129 (#360 Norton Nissan Altima)
25. Michael Caruso 36 (#36 Norton Nissan Altima)
28. Todd Kelly (#7 Jack Daniel’s Nissan Altima)
RESULTS: Race 1 Qualifying
1. Shane van Gisbergen
2. Mark Winterbottom
3. Craig Lowndes
4. Fabian Coulthard
5. Jamie Whincup
6. Jonathon Webb
7. Will Davison
8. Alexandre Premat
9. James Courtney
10. Scott McLaughlin
13. Michael Caruso (#36 Norton Nissan Altima)
14. James Moffat (#360 Norton Nissan Altima)
17. Todd Kelly (#7 Jack Daniel’s Nissan Altima)
19. Rick Kelly (#15 Jack Daniel’s Nissan Altima)
RESULTS: Race 1 (78 laps)
1. Craig Lowndes
2. Will Davison
3. Jamie Whincup
4. Alexandre Premat
5. James Courtney
6. Scott McLaughlin
7. Garth Tander
8. Jonathon Webb
9. Alex Davison
10. Russell Ingall
11. Rick Kelly (#15 Jack Daniel’s Nissan Altima)
14. James Moffat (#360 Norton Nissan Altima)
23. Michael Caruso (#36 Norton Nissan Altima)
DNF Todd Kelly (#7 Jack Daniel’s Nissan Altima)
RESULTS: Race 2 Qualifying
1. Shane van Gisbergen
2. Mark Winterbottom
3. Jamie Whincup
4. Will Davison
5. Fabian Coulthard
6. Alexandre Premat
7. Scott McLaughlin
8. Craig Lowndes
9. Russell Ingall
10. James Courtney
16. Rick Kelly (#15 Jack Daniel’s Nissan Altima)
19. James Moffat (#360 Norton Nissan Altima)
23. Michael Caruso (#36 Norton Nissan Altima)
24. Todd Kelly (#7 Jack Daniel’s Nissan Altima)
RESULTS: Race 2 (78 laps)
1. Shane van Gisbergen
2. Jamie Whincup
3. Craig Lowndes
4. Russell Ingall
5. Mark Winterbottom
6. Will Davison
7. James Courtney
8. Tony D’Alberto
9. Scott McLaughlin
10. Jonathon Webb
13. James Moffat (#360 Norton Nissan Altima)
14. Rick Kelly (#15 Jack Daniel’s Nissan Altima)
DNF Todd Kelly (#7 Jack Daniel’s Nissan Altima)
DNF Michael Caruso (#36 Norton Nissan Altima)
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