PHILLIP ISLAND, Victoria, Australia – Nissan has scored back-to-back podiums in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship with Rick Kelly taking second and third in the two races at Phillip Island.
Kelly crossed the line third in both races but was elevated to second on Saturday after a post-race penalty was imposed on Jamie Whincup. The results were a perfect way for Kelly to celebrate his 500th Supercars race start on the weekend.
Nissan also backed up Kelly's podiums with a season-best fifth place finish for Michael Caruso on Sunday. Kelly showed great speed throughout the weekend, qualifying fifth and fourth for the two races at the fast-flowing Victorian circuit.
"To get a double podium is very exciting for myself and the whole team," said Kelly. "Everyone has put in a lot of work over the last few months to bridge the gap, and we've shown 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."
Kelly only finished two seconds away from victory on Saturday and in Sunday's race took an extended run in the race lead after the first pit stop. Rick Kelly's brother and fellow team owner Todd Kelly was thrilled with the weekend's result.
"We turned a few heads on Saturday, and that was an outstanding result from the guys," said (Todd) Kelly. "The question on everyone's mind, immediately almost, was how genuine it was? And whether we were able to back it up on the Sunday. Sunday we 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 proud of what the guys have done."
The next round of the Supercars championship will be held at Barbagallo Raceway in Western Australia on May 4 to 6.
👍 Great result for @rickkelly on the weekend. Back-to-back podiums in @supercars. Read more at: https://t.co/iwIxcVV6Gy#NISMOnation pic.twitter.com/mu1R1SkK2q
— Nissan NISMO (@NISMO) April 23, 2018
🏁🏆x🏁🏆 Two races x two podiums. Check out the amazing pics of @rickkelly and the @Nissan_MSport @Supercars crew at @PICircuit. See the full gallery at: https://t.co/8c7JfzOU6J#NISMOnation pic.twitter.com/MNkukLSlcA
— Nissan NISMO (@NISMO) April 22, 2018
NISMO Calendar
April 28-29
Road Atlanta Historics, Nissan Featured Marque. Atlanta, GA, USA
May 5-6
FIA WEC, Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Mid-Ohio, Ohio, USA
Virgin Australia Supercars Championship, Barbagallo Raceway, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Contact
Anna Teslik
Global Motorsport Marketing and Communications Manager
Phone: +33 7 7614 7286
ATeslik@nissan-europe.com
Paul Ryan
Global Motorsport Marketing and Communications Manager
Phone: +1 678 644 0404
paul@nismosupport.com
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