Nissan Motorsport has shown great speed to claim back-to-back podium finishes at the WD-40 Phillip Island 500 this weekend.
The Nissan squad finished with two Altimas in the Top 5 after 57 laps of racing this afternoon, as Rick Kelly backed up yesterday’s 2nd placed result crossing the line in 3rd. Michael Caruso was not far behind his team-mate with a season-best 5th placed finish.
Celebrating his 500th race start this weekend, Kelly’s 3rd placed result today reiterates the speed demonstrated in yesterday’s podium finish. The #15 Castrol Racing entry started from 4th on the grid for this afternoon’s event-concluding 250km race. And just like the previous day, the team elected to short fill Kelly in his first stop. This allowed the Nissan driver to take the lead for the mid-part of the race. Eventually slotting into third after the second round of stops, Kelly showed grit to hold off Fabian Coulthard to complete a season-defining weekend.
Michael Caruso has claimed his best result of 2018 with a 5th placed finish this afternoon. The #23 Drive Racing entry started in 6th after a strong qualifying performance, and just like Kelly, the team elected to short-fill Caruso in the first round of stops. Racing inside the Top 5 for the entirety of the race, Caruso kept out of reach of the hard-charging Craig Lowndes to greet the jubilant crew at the chequered flag.
Andre Heimgartner recovered was a challenging qualifying session to record a 14th placed result. The #7 Plus Fitness entry started today’s event from 20th on the grid and made moves up the order from the opening lap. Heimgartner pitted just prior to the race’s safety car period and would have the elbows out in the mid-pack for the remaining laps.
Simona De Silvestro started this afternoon’s 57 lap event from 19th on the grid. The #78 Team Harvey Norman driver was caught out in some opening lap battles and dropped down the order. But the team brought De Silvestro in early for her first stop. Racing in clean air, the Swiss driver skillfully managed her tyre life to the flag.
The next round of the Championship in the Perth SuperSprint at Barbagallo Raceway.
DRIVER QUOTES RICK KELLY #15 CASTROL RACING : « To get a double podium is very exciting for myself and the whole team. Everyone has put in a lot of work over the last few months to bridge the gap and we’ve show good potential towards that this weekend. Today was a day of new things for us. We also learned a lot as a team as well. Now we can take that back to the factory and get ready for the next round in Perth. » QUALIFYING: P4 RACE 10: P3
MICHAEL CARUSO #23 DRIVE RACING : « The race didn’t go too bad. We obviously started in 6th place and when that early safety car came out we obviously took advantage of dropping out in a good spot. We had really good speed, caught Dave towards the end of that middle stint there, but unfortunately couldn’t get past him. So ultimately to finish 5th is a good result for not just myself but the team with Rick in third. It’s a good solid weekend and hopefully something we can carry into the next races. » QUALIFYING: P6 RACE 10: P5
ANDRE HEIMGARTNER #7 PLUS FITNESS RACING : « We got a good start and managed to get up into 14th or 15th and then it was just battling from there. Once you get stuck behind cars around here it’s hard to pass. Unfortunately I made a mistake just before I came in and lost about 3 or 4 seconds and that sort of put us back to 15th and made us pass a few cars. But it was good to have a little bit of pace, if you are disappointed you came 14 or 15 I suppose it’s not too bad. It’s good for the team to get the podiums and look forward to the next round. Hopefully we can take the speed. » QUALIFYING: P20 RACE 9: P14
SIMONA DE SILVESTRO #78 TEAM HARVEY NORMAN : « Qualifying went a little bit better, so that was a positive. Then I got tangle up with Stanaway, so that pretty much ruined our race. Which is a bit frustrating. So I pitted a little bit early and then with fuel at the end, we knew we had to put a lot of fuel in for the second stop when everybody else was able to do it on the yellow. We kind of had some pace sometimes and sometimes didn’t, so just got to figure it out or drive better and just work on it. But for the team I think it’s been pretty good with Rick and Caruso having a good day today, we’ll learn from them. » QUALIFYING: P19 RACE 10: P22
TODD KELLY TEAM OWNER : « Well we turned a few heads yesterday and that was an outstanding result from the guys. The question on everyone’s mind, immediately almost, was how genuine was it? And whether we were able to back it up on the Sunday. And today just showed the car is genuinely there, around this style of track in particular. We are good enough to be exactly where Rick raced and to have the lead and generate a gap was really impressive. I’m really proud of what the guys have done. »
Press release Nissan Motorsport
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