Season in Review: Rick Kelly

Former champion Rick Kelly feels his Nissan team is on the improve after a strong run home in 2015.

And with his third place finish, he was in the box seat to see how the battle between soon-to-be teammates Jamie Whincup and Shane van Gisbergen played out on the streets of Sydney. 

He reflects on 2015 and talks about why Nissan will improve this year with v8supercars.com.au

What was your best race of 2015? 

“We ended up getting four podiums – for me it was the Gold Coast 600 on Sunday because it was a huge task to save that amount of fuel to get to the end of the race. For me, I really enjoyed that challenge of fuel saving versus lap-time. There’s races out there when you get a great result and you drive ok in, but there’s races out there where sometimes you drive fantastically and you finished 10th because it was the bet you could get out of the car on the day. So it’s not always the result you’ve driven the best – but that case, on the Gold Coast, was up there as my favourite.”

What was the most disappointing race? 

“There were a few challenging races this year – there were a few I probably thought we were in line for a podium, and we had an issue, which is part of racing. Probably one of the more disappointing ones was Bathurst, it was an event where we got off to an ok start then we had an incident on track. The race we just kept double stacking – three ties, and we were put to last. When you have a tough day at Bathurst it becomes very disappointing because it means so much.” 

Best on-track battle with another driver? 

“Nothing springs to mind with that – a good battle means you’ve probably got someone behind who has pace on you and you managed to keep them behind the entire race. “Not too sure on that one.”  

Best off-track memory or experience this year? 

“The GT Academy in the UK was cool. I got to stay two days afterwards and took myself to Switzerland, flew over a mountain range and glacier and stuff – that was a good opportunity with the Nissan GT Academy program.” 

Best performance by another driver? 

“The one thing that sticks in my head, because I’ve got a pretty short memory, is Shane van Gisbergen’s burnout at the Gold Coast when he won and had his car up against the fence – that was impressive given the amount of rubber and smoke coming out the car. That was a pretty cool way to celebrate his win.” 

What was your goal at the start of the year and how did it play out? 

“It’s always hard to lock goals in place. 

“For us, we were hoping to have some engine upgrades come a little sooner than they did, and that made the first half of the year a little more challenging, so I guess when the year started out we were hoping to have the cars closer to the top five in the points at the end of the year, but with the way it went with some of the components and everything, we didn’t quite get that. Certainly, I think ninth and four podiums and a pole position is a solid year, I would call it. It certainly was a momentum-building year. We’ve come off the back of the season with some momentum built for next year.”  

The team’s biggest achievement? 

“The way everyone in the team is now working together, and the morale within the business as a group of people we’ve got within it is our biggest achievement because I think it’s the best it’s ever been and we’re heading to a very good place. Coming from my experience in 13 or 14 years in V8 Supercars, I’ve seen what it takes to have a good team capable of winning, and what it takes to have a team that needs improvement. We’re certainly now at the point where we have a team underneath us capable of winning races and getting results, that’s been proven in the last six months.” 

You can see that, and it was a great way to finish with a podium in Sydney. 

“Certainly a good way to finish – it’s really exciting heading into next year. For me, to finish third was cool, but it was also really interesting and exciting to watch van Gisbergen and Whincup out there, because they’re obviously going to be in the same team next year and that’s going to be one to watch for me. At this stage in my career I really enjoy looking at changes in the sport and how it plays out, and that’s one change and combination I’m really looking forward to seeing." 

The biggest news story or shock announcement? 

“Probably the Chaz [Motert] accident at Bathurst – it shakes everyone up, doesn’t it, when you see something like that and see someone injured in one of our cars, because it’s pretty rare someone gets injured in one of our cars.” 

Who do you think will improve the most in 2016? 

“Firstly, I think we already have a steady base to come from in ninth – I think we will improve, for sure, from that.

“There’s a few out there – like van Gis going to a new team. 

“He’s obviously an incredibly talented guy, but if a championship is his aim, when he goes into that team he needs a steady change in approach to get a bit more consistency. With a team that’s a little bigger and with a little more structure, that may be something that happens. He could well go from finishing fourth to third – so I’m interested in seeing that one…

“[Will Davison] will be interesting, I think he’ll go well in that environment, because he needs a good team around him to give him some confidence to do a good job. He’s certainly capable of that, and just the jury is out as to whether that team is the right one for him or not. A small family environment – all indications are it could be a perfect environment for him potentially. 

“He is one who could be capable of being most improved because the year has been tough on him.”

The numbers:

Championship position: NinthPoints: 2154Penalty: 0Race wins: None. Best finish second at Winton, Gold Coast. ARMOR ALL Pole Positions: One. Average qualifying position: 12.4Average finishing position: 11.3