Covers come off Castrol Mustang

Kelly Racing have released the inaugural Castrol Mustang livery that Supercars champion Rick Kelly will carry into the 2020 season.

The #15 Ford will make its track debut this week in a 20-lap shakedown at Winton before heading to The Bend next Tuesday for the official pre-season BP Ultimate SuperTest.

Kelly Racing had operated on a 16-week timeline to turn two new car builds around – the other being for Andre Heimgartner – and complete an in-house engine program.

After designing and manufacturing hundreds of parts and working flat out across the summer, the Braeside squad celebrated the project coming together with a reveal at Melbourne’s Federation Square today.

“It’s been really great to involve the fans who have supported us throughout the entire racing journey and now the new fans that have come onboard for the 2020 season with the Mustang,” Kelly said.

“We really appreciate everyone’s support today and over the last few months, this hasn’t been an easy job as anyone could imagine but I’m really proud of what we’ve achieved.

“It was a team effort to get the car and the engine done in a 16-week period, the guys back at the factory have worked around the clock and really dug deep to deliver this car with the support too of our technical partners, the main one being Castrol.

“Castrol have been a supporter of mine for most of my career and the team’s since we began in 2009. We’re now commencing our third year having them as the major partner on my car and it’s going to be an extremely exciting year working together.

“The Castrol relationship has been extremely valuable particularly with the engine development stuff we’ve been working on where it’s ultra-important that we have the utmost consistency with everything when testing parts for performance and reliability, so to have a product and a support team that we can rely on has been extremely beneficial.

“I can’t wait to hit the track in the Castrol Mustang, I think it looks great, certainly looks fast and really happy with what we’ve achieved so far with an exciting season ahead.”

Ben Rose, Castrol Head of Marketing ANZ, added: “We are just as excited as the fans for this new chapter for Kelly Racing.

“It aligns perfectly for Castrol as we’ve had a great partnership with Ford, and the Mustang made a big impact coming into Supercars last year – we’re thrilled to be able to put our Castrol colours on a Mustang.”

Heimgartner’s NED Racing livery was the first to be announced for the 2020 season, made public in December.

Among other partners confirmed for the team’s upcoming campaign is GB Galvanising, a long-term supporter of Kelly’s 2019 co-driver Dale Wood.

GB Galvanising branding will feature on the front wheel arches and rear wings of both Kelly and Heimgartner’s Fords.