Fast times for Jack Daniel's Racing at test day

Jack Daniel's Racing has had a solid opening hit out for season 2014, with the Nissan Altimas of Rick and Todd Kelly showing promising pace at the Sydney.com V8 Supercar Test Day.

After Todd topped the wet first hour of running, the duo accumulated 141 trouble-free laps, with Todd finishing the day second fastest with a quick lap of 1:31.1235sec, while Rick was third best with a fastest time of 1:31.1590sec.

The varied weather conditions experienced during the day threw a curve ball at the competition, which had to adjust their testing programs to the varied track grip levels.

The test day also gave the opportunity for Nismo Athlete Alex Buncombe to have his first taste of V8 Supercar power, with the Brit acclimatising quickly to the car and the conditions.

All eyes from Jack Daniel's Racing are now firmly on the Clipsal 500, the opening round of the V8 Supercar Championship, scheduled for February 27 to March 2.

TODD KELLY - #7 Jack Daniel's Nissan Altima

"All of the cars have been completely stripped down, back to a bare shell on the jig in the workshop, and rebuilt from scratch for the start of this season," said Todd Kelly.

"The first run this morning you expect one or two little teething problems, but all four cars were spot on. They also seemed to be quite fast.

"We've had both wet running and dry, and in both scenarios, we seem to have a few cars up at the top, so we're looking good.

"It's a little bit hard to tell (if the aerodynamic changes have made a difference), we don't get any sector times or speed trap times like we would at a race meeting.

"The only data we can get is physically standing on the pit wall and listening when the other cars are changing gears, and looking at overall lap time.

"Both of those don't look too bad, we really need to get to Clipsal and the Grand Prix to see where we really sit, but I'm pretty confident that we're better than we were last year."

RICK KELLY - #15 Jack Daniel's Nissan Altima

"It's very early days at the moment, obviously we are trying to find out what the aero package is doing, and do some worthwhile running," said Rick Kelly.

"Unfortunately it's been a bit wet, but it's been good for us. We rolled out at the Grand Prix in 2013 and were really quick in the only wet race of the season.

"We tried some things in the wet, and the car was really pacey, so that was good.

"Considering the weather, it's a pretty impressive turnout (at the Test Day), everyone is having a look around the back of the pits, and the grid walk at lunch time was a great success as well.

"There's been very good support for us so far in the second year of Nissan in V8 Supercars, and we can't wait to see that support continue at the Clipsal 500."

Jack Daniel's Racing