Defending champion Rick Kelly notched up his 13th top-three race finish out of 15 races this season when he came second to fellow Holden driver Mark Skaife in Race 1 of the SkyCity Triple Crown at Darwin’s Hidden Valley Raceway.
Starting from pole position, the 24-year-old Victorian maintained his metronomic consistency as he put even more points between himself and his nearest rivals in the 2007 championship battle.
His 20 points for second place extended his lead over Toll HSV Dealer Team team-mate Garth Tander by eight points, to 33 points, and by three points over Todd Kelly, to 76 points.
Tander, who has found himself in unaccustomed territory with a struggling car so far this weekend, made up three places from ninth on the grid to finish sixth after battles with Ford rivals Jamie Whincup and Steven Richards.
Tander has been searching for the right chassis set up for the slippery Hidden Valley circuit for two days, and is set to make further changes overnight to get on the pace for Sunday’s two-race finale.
Rick Kelly was more pleased with his #1 Toll HSV Commodore, scoring the third pole position of his career in the morning session. It was his first pole since Clipsal 500 in 2005.
However, he lost some of the advantage when his car bogged down off the line to allow his brother Todd to jump him into the first corner. Rick managed to gather up his car into second place as rivals pressured him from behind.
A first-lap melee that resulted in three cars being sidelined with damage brought out the safety car for four laps. When leader Todd Kelly pitted on the restart, Rick stayed out in clean air to make up some time on his brother.
The tactic worked, and Rick was able to pit and rejoin ahead of Todd on lap 8. However, Mark Skaife had a great stop also and managed to edge out in front of Rick.
Skaife and Rick Kelly then ran 1-2 for the rest of the race, comfortably out in front as Todd Kelly, Craig Lowndes, Garth Tander and Jamie Whincup skirmished behind them.
Tander managed to avoid the first-lap carnage and then went on to win a battle with Steven Richards to grab a spot. A fast 3.7-second pit stop also propelled him up the order into fifth.
In the end, Lowndes was able to push by Todd, while Tander had to make way for a fast-finishing Whincup to finish sixth.
The result means that Rick Kelly will start on the front row in the outside of Skaife for Sunday’s Race 2 – on the “clean” racing line – with a chance to even up the score.
Tander will start on the third row, on the outside of Whincup.
#1 Rick Kelly (Race 1 – 2, 20 pts): “We had a really good practice session yesterday – we ticked that box – and a great qualifying session – we ticked that box – and we finished second today – and we ticked that box. To be honest with you, I am not too happy to have finished second today. If you qualify the car on pole position you want to win the race. Unfortunately today, that wasn’t to happen. The clutch didn’t do me any favours getting off the line, and I was lucky to maintain second position in turn one. The safety car threw us out a little bit. We were planning on pitting after that but when Todd pitted I turned left and put the boot into it and tried to put a clean lap in to get in front. That worked, and we tried to get in front, but Mark was a little bit too quick for us there and we slotted into second. ”
#16 Garth Tander (Race 1 – 6th, 12 pts): “We went forwards, but the car is still not responding how we would expect. We made a lot of changes to the car after qualifying but we still have a lot of work to do. Then tomorrow, we just have to get through the first corner and see how we come out. ”
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