Asian Motor Sports

Young guns Todd Kelly, Jamie Whincup and Rick Kelly have continued their impressive form from last weekend’s first round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series finishing with the three fastest lap times in qualifying at the Australian Grand Prix.

Todd Kelly rewarded his Holden Racing Team crew by claiming pole position in the non-championship event after they worked tirelessly on team-mate Mark Skaife’s car up until 2am yesterday to ensure it was race ready for the first practice session.

“My crew ended up working non-stop with Mark’s (Skaife) crew after the shunt in Adelaide to make sure he was ready for this weekend,” says Kelly.

Skaife’s number 2 Holden Commodore finished fourth fastest in the borrowed HSV Dealer Team chassis from 2005, further rewarding the crew for their hard work.

Clipsal 500 round winner Jamie Whincup continued his dream run to the season after finishing with the second quickest lap time.

“The car balance was considerably different to Adelaide and so we had to make a lot of changes to make sure the car was balanced for qualifying,” Whincup said.

Despite being a non-championship event, the top three drivers suggested they will treat this weekend as a normal race.

“We put in just as much effort to get here as we do to get to any other round and being race car drivers, I think we all will take up the opportunity to get out there and race,” Rick Kelly said.

Rookie James Courtney resurrected a disappointing first round debut, finishing just outside the top ten in eleventh position.

Like HRT, the Stone Brothers Racing team worked around the clock to get Courtney’s Jeld-Wen Falcon on the grid for the first practice session this morning.

Marcos Ambrose’s chassis from 2005 was shipped from the Gold Coast to Melbourne on Wednesday and refitted in time for Courtney to gain valuable race miles for the next round of the Championship in New Zealand.

The future generation of V8 Supercar drivers have again proved they will make a regular appearance at the top of the time sheets with Todd Kelly, Jamie Whincup, James Courtney and Will Davison finishing the first practice session this morning with the four quickest lap times.