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Tight, Twisty Winton to Suit Nissans

19 Aug 2013
While Winton may suit the Nissan Altimas on paper, Rick Kelly is tentative to suggest a result, given the unpredictability of the 2013 season.
2 mins by James Pavey
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While Winton Motor Raceway may be suited to the Nissan Altimas on paper, Rick Kelly is tentative to suggest a result at this weekend's event, given the unpredictability of the 2013 V8 Supercars season.

Tight and twisty Winton favours a car that handles well, not the one with the most power.

"We're approaching the round from a neutral stand point – we know where the car is strong and weak and we're trying to maximise everything we can to get the best result," Kelly said. "Everything for us continues to improve and we've seen some other teams fall back the other way in recent times, so it's exciting that for us everything is moving forward.”

Teammate Todd Kelly admitted the layout of the Winton circuit should suit the Jack Daniel's Racing Nissan Altima, but also highlighted just how close the racing has been this season.

"Certainly if you had to choose one circuit that is least impacted by the lack of straight line speed we have at the moment, then Winton is probably one of the better ones – but in saying that it's also a track where the whole field is covered by a few tenths of a second," Todd said.

"If we are losing a little bit, it's certainly still going to knock us around, but we'll see how we go, we'll know a lot more once we get into practice and qualifying."

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The four Nissan Motorsport cars had a two-day test at the circuit last week, one day for visiting international drivers Lucas Ordonez and Michael Krumm and co-drivers, the second for the four regular Nissan drivers. 

Rick described the test as both important and productive. 

"Testing last week at Winton was important, to have some free time at a race track, where we could get in the car and try different things from a set-up point of view, and also from a driving technique point of view,” he said. 

"The day was very productive, we went through a lot of things that you just don't get the chance to try at a race meeting and the car handled really well, so we're looking forward to flowing into the Winton round and confirming some of the things we learnt at the test."

Rick and Todd Kelly sit 13th and 24th in the Championship, respectively. 

The Winton 360 runs from August 23-25 at the Victorian circuit, with tickets available now.

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