Albert Park: Jack Daniel's Racing race 1 report

TODD KELLY FINISHES SIXTH ON FRIDAY AT ALBERT PARK

Jack Daniel's Racing driver Todd Kelly has finished in sixth place in the opening race of the BRC IMPCO Challenge at the Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit in Melbourne Victoria today.

Earlier in the day both Todd Kelly and brother Rick showed the potential of their Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodores, qualifying third and fourth for today's race after a strong run in the Top 10 Shootout.

But at the start of the 13-lap race Rick Kelly was squeezed onto the grass as he challenged for second place on the run to the first corner, running wide and losing several spots. Todd Kelly also lost spots in the first corner skirmish.

Moments later Rick Kelly spun out of contention at Turn 9 when he locked his rear brakes, ending his chances for the day. He recovered to finish in 24th place in his #15 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore.

Todd Kelly ran a steady race aboard his #7 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore, fighting with Craig Lowndes, Jamie Whincup and Paul Dumbrell in the second pack on-track and passing Dumbrell in the late stages of the race to claim sixth.

James Courtney won today's opening race of the BRC IMPCO Challenge at the Formula 1 Qantas Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne today ahead of Garth Tander and Shane van Gisbergen.

JACK DANIEL'S RACING QUOTEBOARD

TODD KELLY - #7 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore:

"It was on for young and old at the first corner there and I lost a few spots out of it," said Todd Kelly.

"We probably didn't have the pace of the guys at the front in race conditions, so where we ended up was probably what our pace was. I also speared off and let (Paul) Dumbrell and (Craig) Lowndes past, I got Dumbrell back and that's where we ended up for today.

"There's a couple of things that stood out straight away in the race that we can probably do to the car overnight to make it a fair bit better and let it look after it's tyres a little better. So again, we learned a lot and at least we are trucking along in a good position while we are learning these things, which is promising.

"So we will apply what we learned today for tomorrow and hopefully it will give us a better race car, but certainly, the way the car was in qualifying trim was awesome.

"If we can replicate that qualifying speed in Hamilton and do a little bit better in terms of what the car does in the race, it will be pretty positive.

"Definitely, the changes that we are making to our Jack Daniel's Commodore here at Albert Park will apply everywhere, across the board. Obviously a place like Hamilton has a different base set-up but we are definitely improving with each event.

"We are a hell of a lot closer to the mark here compared to Adelaide and hopefully at Hamilton we are even closer again. Slowly but surely I'm getting more and more confident with where we are at."

RICK KELLY - #15 Jack Daniel's Racing Holden Commodore:

"It was a disappointing race considering we started from fourth," said Rick Kelly.

"We had a car capable of finishing right up there so it's a little frustrating.

"We got hustled of the start line and run into the grass, which caused the first part of the deterioration of our race.

"Unfortunately that pushed us narrow going into Turn 1 and I got bumped again into the grass on the exit.

"I fell a couple of spots back and then I made a mistake while behind PD (Paul Dumbrell), which caused me to spin.

"We've got a few different things on the car that are taking me a little bit of time to get used to, particularly in a race situation, so we've got to try and look at what we are trying to achieve and continue to develop and improve the Jack Daniel's Commodore and try to move forward for the rest of the weekend."

-source: kelly racing