Rick Kelly leads the pack in the Bathurst 1000 on Sunday. Picture: Gus Burrows
MILDURA V8 Supercar driver Rick Kelly believes with a bit of luck, he and co driver David Russell could have finished in the top 10 of the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 on Sunday.
The 29-year-old looked to have the speed to be able to climb into the top rankings of the great race at Mt Panorama, but having to conserve fuel, coupled with a forced late pit stop, saw the Number 15 Jack Daniels Racing Commodore finish in 15th.
Todd Kelly and Tim Blanchard finished in 18th position, while young guns Cameron Waters and Jesse Dixon came in 20th after starting from the back of the grid.
Rick Kelly said the car had improved since the start of the season but an early pit stop put the brakes on near the start of the race.
“It was very promising for us to make a significant improvement in our general car speed and we definitely had the car speed to finish in the top few which is really good from earlier in the year,” he said.
“It’s really good to make those improvements but there are so many good drivers and teams out there and a lack of safety cars out there and we really needed one late in the day for our strategy.
For more of this story, purchase your copy of Tuesday's Sunraysia Daily 9-10-2012.