Brendan Lines

February 18, 2020

It’s been a busy off season at Kelly Racing developing its all new Mustang for 2020, but after an overnight cross-country haul Kelly and Co. have given their new machinery a full shakedown at The Bend today and first impressions are good.

#15 Mustang for Kelly Racing takes to The Bend for the first time – Image: Kelly Racing

There were early dramas to the day, as a failed coil pack limited the team to sharing one coil, meaning only single car runs were possible.

Despite the set back team owner Todd Kelly said to Speedcafe: “If that’s the only drama, we’re laughing. To have no other major dramas is still a miracle with the amount of work that’s been done in such a rush towards the end.”

The all new #15 car managed 14th best at the end of testing posting a 1:48.5517s, but it’s too early to gauge the outright pace says driver Rick Kelly.

“You know it’s baby steps for us to get the cars on the track and get them to turn some nice reliable laps and they did exactly that, the outright performance is too early to tell where we’ll sit and it will take a few rounds for us to fully understand that, but initial impressions seems really good,” he said.

Rick Kelly talks with his engineer after final test run – Image Local Goals

The Tailem Bend circuit threw up some oversteer on entry to the corners, something Kelly has become accustomed to across The Bend’s layout.

The team’s key concerns for the day was proving the drivability and mapping of the car that will continue over to the car’s set-up for the Adelaide 500 later this week.

For the first time pre-season testing has been scheduled the week leading up to the opening round at Adelaide — robbing the teams of lead-in time to process and re-think any changes to their cars.

For Kelly Racing it has been a long road to deliver its first Mustang, this is the first time the team will run its new aero package and test an engine that has never run a lap in its life.

The Braeside team has been working at fever pitch right up to today’s test in order to get its new package right for the day.

“It’s pretty exciting the work that’s gone on at Braeside our headquarters the last three of four months has been pretty intense,” Kelly said.

“Obviously as you get closer to the day the intensity with hours and workload goes through the roof and to the point where I think we’re at a level we’ve never experienced before, with the guys literally working all night to get the cars done,

“So we arrived at the track at Three-thirty this morning with the cars, unloaded today and they’ve ran fantastically all day, so I reckon its a massive credit and pat on the back to the guys to work these hours to get the cars running and as well as they have today, it’s spectacular,” he said.

The Adelaide 500 kick-off this Thursday.