Adelaide: Kelly Racing preview

KELLY RACING EMBARKS ON DEBUT V8 SUPERCAR EVENT IN ADELAIDE

PERKINS RETURNS TO THE MAIN GAME FOLD IN ADELAIDE

Returning to the main game V8 Supercar Championship Series full-time at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide this weekend will be second-generation racer Jack Perkins.

Son of six-time Bathurst winner Larry Perkins, the 22-year-old is entering his fourth year in V8 Supercar competition and will be aboard the #11 Dodo Racing Holden Commodore.

Perkins ran events in both the Fujitsu 'Development' V8 Supercar Series and top-level V8 Supercar competition last season, finishing fifth in the Fujitsu V8 Series points at the end of the season.

Perkins also competed in six main series events, scoring eighth place at the endurance events at Phillip Island and Bathurst.

After his rookie season in the main game ended prematurely in 2008 when he missed the final two events of the season for health reasons, Perkins is fit, determined and focused to make this season his breakout year in the category.

His chance will come in the #11 Dodo Racing Holden Commodore of Kelly Racing, part of the four-car attack from the newest team on the V8 Supercar landscape.

A second chance with a brand new 'super-team' has given Perkins plenty of inspiration heading into Adelaide.

"'Really excited' is probably the best way to put it," said Perkins.

"I'm very grateful for the opportunity that Kelly Racing has given me and I just want to get out there and go racing again in the Dodo Commodore.

"I can't wait. It's been a pretty big off-season setting up the team and the guys have done a superb job getting everything done and getting four cars ready for Adelaide in two months, as well as all the trucks, pit equipment and everything done.

"It has really been a great team effort."

Perkins finished second in both Fujitsu V8 Supercar races held at the Clipsal 500 last year, and recorded a 19th place and a failure to finish in his two races in his only main game Clipsal 500 appearance back in 2007.

V8 ROOKIE WOOD RELAXED AHEAD OF CLIPSAL 500 DEBUT

Dale Wood will begin his rookie year in the V8 Supercar Championship Series at one of the most daunting events of the season at the Clipsal 500 on the streets of Adelaide this weekend.

But the 25-year-old says that he has his nerves under control ahead of his first race aboard the #16 Commodore of new V8 Supercar outfit Kelly Racing.

"Surprising I'm really calm and relaxed about it," said Wood.

"I'm looking forward to getting to be a part of the championship as a full-time driver in the premier motorsport category in Australia.

"On top of that I'm absolutely over the moon to be with Kelly Racing."

Wood will pilot the fourth entry of Kelly Racing, joining former Bathurst winners Todd and Rick Kelly and second-generation racer Jack Perkins.

While Wood is the least experienced of Kelly Racing's four drivers, he will look to learn from his more established team-mates in what will be his Clipsal 500 debut this weekend.

Originally from the Yarra Valley, Wood faired well at the Adelaide street circuit last year in the development level Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series.

Wood collected fourth and third in the two Fujitsu Series races at the 2009 Clipsal 500 carnival, en route to sixth in the series standings last season.

But it will be learning the ropes in the toughest touring car championship in the world, rather than championship points, that will be Wood's focus in the early stages of this season.

"My goals are low and at the moment I just want to enjoy it, come out of the Adelaide weekend unscathed and keep building experience," said Wood.

"Getting to be a part of what is arguably Australia's biggest V8 Supercar team in Kelly Racing and being behind the wheel of the #16 Commodore is fantastic.

"Working as part of this team day-in, day-out makes it even better because all the guys on my car and the whole team in general are absolutely fantastic."

Major sponsorship and livery for the #16 Kelly Racing Holden Commodore will be unveiled at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide this weekend.

HARD WORK CHARACTERISES KELLY RACING, DRIVERS INCLUDED

After months of hard work and careful planning, Kelly Racing will field four cars in its debut V8 Supercar event at the Clipsal 500 on the streets of Adelaide this weekend.

Team co-owners Todd and Rick Kelly will race against each other as team-mates for the first time, behind the wheel of two brand new Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodores.

The two cars performed without fault at the first official V8 Supercar test day, giving the Jack Daniel's Racing crew confidence that they have what it takes to give the cars and team an impressive debut on the demanding Adelaide Parklands street circuit.

It is with added satisfaction that Kelly Racing's drivers views the progress of this new team, with each driver fulfilling a major role day-to-day at the team's new facility in Braeside.

Todd Kelly has been working on the team's workshop floor, welding and building the equipment necessary to run four cars this season.

Other drivers Rick Kelly, Jack Perkins and Dale Wood have all been busy working as the team's 'visual design' and signwriting department, applying the liveries to the four Kelly Racing Holden Commodore VE V8 Supercars as well as the team's spare chassis, the Jack Daniel's Racing show cars and the team's two prime movers complete with A and B trailers, as well as the new workshop itself.

"It was a massive job to get all the cars finished just to make the first shakedown day and then the test day last week," said Todd Kelly.

"But to get from the test day to Clipsal has almost been an even bigger job, just to get all the pit gear ready and get the crew guys sorted out.

"This whole project has been a big job but we all can't wait to get to Adelaide."

The work undertaken over the summer at Kelly Racing has been nothing short of phenomenal, but the work coming from all departments of the race team has helped bond the new outfit, drivers included.

-credit: kellyracing.com.au