Jason Bargwanna and Rick Kelly have topped the time sheets at the first official test day of the 2010 V8 Supercar season at Winton Motor Raceway in rural Victoria today.
Bargwanna’s best time aboard the #11 Rock Holden Commodore was under the V8 Supercar lap record for the 3.0-kilometre circuit, giving him the fastest time for the day in his first full-blown hit-out for Kelly Racing.
Second fastest was Rick Kelly aboard his Jack Daniel’s Racing Holden Commodore, making it a fantastic day for the squad.
Both Bargwanna and Kelly stuck to their own testing schedules throughout the day, each saving their best set of tyres for the final stages of proceedings to rocket to the top of the timesheets.
Todd Kelly was also pleased with his efforts today, turning his first laps in a brand new Jack Daniel’s Racing Holden Commodore at Winton today.
While not in the top group on the timing charts, the older of the Kelly brothers was very pleased with the progress of the brand new chassis today.
Dale Wood turned laps in the #16 Kelly Racing Commodore today, with further information regarding Kelly Racing’s fourth entry to be announced at a later date.
The opening event of the 2010 V8 Supercar Championship Series will be staged at the spectacular Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi on February 18-20.
KELLY RACING QUOTEBOARD:
Jason Bargwanna - #11 Rock Racing Holden Commodore:
“We really set out today with a program and we didn't deviate from that at all,” said Bargwanna.
“We watched other guys go fast during the day but we stuck to our program and at the end of the day we put it all together on a better set of tyres we had saved and did a good time.
“I think that is what comes with 140-odd events of experience. You really know what the car is like and you focus on your own job. You work with your engineer and your crew and hopefully you develop a fast race car for the end of the day.
“I've said it already that I believe this is my best chance ever to have a crack for the championship and this is a good way to start the year.
“Clearly what we looked for today is to be comfortable in the Rock Commodore. That's the first thing, to make sure I work well with my engineer (Stewart McDonald) and the guys on the car.
“Today we got an understanding of what the car likes. We made a lot of changes today that sent us backwards but we learned a lot from those.
“So what we did do was obviously good when we put all the info together at the end of the day.
“It's great feeding off Rick and Todd. They are obviously very experienced and they know the cars so that's what I like about the opportunity we have this year.
“This organisation, this group of people, has got the ability to do a good job.
“Everyone looks at the time sheet at the end of the day and feels quite happy about it but they don't pay trophies for testing.
“So clearly what we've got to do it go away from here and work very hard to be competitive not only at the first race, but all year. Everyone is very focused on that.”
Rick Kelly – Jack Daniel’s Racing Holden Commodore:
“It was a good day for us at Jack Daniel's Racing and Kelly Racing as a whole,” said Rick Kelly.
“It was very hot at Winton today. Although it was difficult in the car it's a fantastic start to the year because it's going to be hot in the Middle East.
“It was a good opportunity for us to get back in the car and experience the temperatures again because we haven't done that for two months and it's hard to simulate that in our normal training.
“I'll sleep well tonight. It's been a good first day.
“We struggled a little bit with tyre condition today but that allowed us to do some good changes on old tyres in preparation for races.
“We can leave today with some good confidence. The car worked well, we had some great pit stops and the guys worked really well so for us it should be a good season.
“We only get four test days so it's the only time we can really practice and try things because it's too risky to try big changes during a race weekend.
“So today we were really just focused on the areas we needed to improve. For me that's qualifying and just familiarising ourselves with the changes on the car and what they do.
“We've had two months off and we're now able to pick up from where we left off at the end of last year and that gives us good confidence.”
Todd Kelly – Jack Daniel’s Racing Holden Commodore:
“It was a great day,” said Todd Kelly.
“It was just like being in my old car. The job the guys have done on this new Jack Daniel’s Commodore is spot on and nothing went wrong. It was as if that car had been around forever so that's good.
“We ran through a fair few test items and learned a little bit and it just came down to having no good tyres.
“All four cars are running really well and for Bargs to punch out the time that he did and be the quickest is fantastic.”
Dale Wood - #16 Kelly Racing Holden Commodore:
“Todd asked me to drive the car today,” said Dale Wood.
“The car was back to a bare shell over Christmas getting work done to it with the new side intrusion stuff and other improvements.
“You always want to be sure that the car is OK for the first race and it was good for me to knock the rust off my driving a bit.
“All in all it was a really good day at the car didn't miss a beat.”
RESULTS: V8 Supercar Pre-season Testing
8 February 2010 - Winton Motor Raceway (Combined Times)
1. #11 Jason Bargwanna 1:22.7234
2. #7 Rick Kelly 1:23.1154
3. #5 Mark Winterbottom 1:23.2144
4. #14 Jason Bright 1:23.6123
5. #55 Paul Dumbrell 1:23.6501
6. #6 Steven Richards 1:23.6879
7. #3 Tony D’Alberto 1:23.9823
8. #34 Michael Caruso 1:24.3938
9. #33 Lee Holdsworth 1:24.5674
10. #8 Jason Richards 1:24.8358
11. #30 Daniel Gaunt 1:24.9606
12. #15 Todd Kelly 1:25.1786
13. #21 Karl Reindler 1:25.3184
14. #16 Dale Wood 1:25.9832
