Castrol Racing’s Rick Kelly has earned a spot in the top 10 shootout for Race 1 of the 2019 Supercars Championship in Adelaide today.
The #15 driver provisionally qualified eighth in this evening’s 20 minute session and is confident of unlocking more speed.
Plus Fitness driver Andre Heimgartner will start tomorrow’s first 250km race from 13th after a mixed session that saw him on track for a top 10 place, only to lock a brake and hurt his time late in his lap.
Rookie Garry Jacobson, driving the #3 RABBLE.Club Nissan will make his full-time Supercars debut from 20th, just ahead of Team Harvey Norman’s Simon de Silvestro who will line-up 22nd.
The Supercars return to the track tomorrow with a practice session at 10:40am (Adelaide time), followed by the Top 10 Shootout at 2:05pm and the opening race of the 2019 championship at 4:50pm.
QUOTES
Rick Kelly #15 Castrol Racing : « I’m really excited. We had a tough three practice sessions trying to understand the new package, » said Rick Kelly. « We threw a lot of stuff at the car which we wouldn’t usually do at a race meeting. My engineer George turned it around for the session. We put on a decent tyre, and on the out lap, it felt different and completely hooked up. We ran four sets of tyres, which was a different strategy, but a good one. The car is so much different to what I’ve been used to that there’s still a bit of time in me. This morning I was walking around with my lip curled up, but now I have a big smile. »
Andre Heimgartner #7 Plus Fitness : « We had the car to go better, but we weren’t able to put it together, » said Andre Heimgartner. « That was the first session that I’d used green tyres, so it was a bit of a learning exercise for me. Overall it’s not too bad, but just a little frustrating that we missed out on the top 10. »
Garry Jacobson #3 RABBLE.Club : « 20th is about where we are at at the moment, » said Garry Jacobson. « Rick and Andre have a bit more experience getting the most out of the green tyre. It was pretty tricky conditions with all of the shadows on the track. The tracking markers were harder to find, and you had to go deep because the track was so fast. I’m happy with 20th for my first outing and I’ll try and settle into a rhythm tomorrow. It was great to see Rick get a top 10 result. I’m looking forward to sitting down, looking at his data and watching his onboard footage! »
Simona De Silvestro #78 Team Harvey Norman : « We are struggling a little with the rear, just not great on power down, » said Simona De Silvestro. « We seemed to improve over the day, but we still need to find a bit more speed. The actual session was a bit frustrating. I was sent out in front of other guys on different strategies. Everything is so close and there and you can’t afford to make mistakes. »
Press release Nissan Motorsport
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