LAUNCESTON, Australia – Nissan Motorsport will look to continue its rise in the V8 Supercars Championship at Pukekohe in New Zealand this weekend after a steady performance at Symmons Plains on the weekend.
The four Nissan Altimas raced consistently at the Tasmanian circuit, with a swag of top 20 results recorded over the two days of racing.
Despite results that the team was frustrated by, the all-new Nissan V8 squad is buoyed by small improvements made to the cars and is confident that they are heading in the right direction.
Jack Daniel's Nissan driver Todd Kelly proved to be the fastest of the quartet at Symmons Plains, but was hampered by two engine problems.
Todd's brother Rick Kelly finished with a best result of 16th (Race 5) and sits in a strong 13th in the championship.
The Norton 360 Nissans of James Moffat and Michael Caruso proved consistent, with the pair finishing with a best of 15th and 16th respectively. Moffat's weekend was slightly tarnished by a 15 point penalty for contact with Dean Fiore in Race 5.
The ITM400 Auckland at Pukekohe Park is the next stop for the V8 Supercars Championship, to be held this weekend.
The New Zealand V8 Supercars race has sweet memories for Rick Kelly and the team. Rick was the winner during the last V8 event at Pukekohe, and Rick also took his own team's maiden race win in its former guise as 'Kelly Racing' in 2011.
RESULTS AND QUOTES:
Rick Kelly – #15 Jack Daniel's Nissan Altima
Qualified Race 3: 26
Result Race 3: 20
Qualified Race 4: 25
Result Race 4: 23
Qualified Race 5: 25
Result Race 5: 16
Championship position: 13th
"The whole aim coming to Tassie was to try and get through with straight cars ready to go to New Zealand. We knew it was going to be a struggle and we had to just get as many points as we possibly could," said Rick Kelly.
"To be honest I would have loved to have finished Race 3a and 3b a little bit better and obviously the first one today a little bit better, but the 16th we got in Race 5 was, as bad as it is for us, a really good result.
"The guys did a great job, made a couple of small changes in between the two races that really sharpened the car up, so I think we should all be pretty happy. For the Nissan's 15th, 16th and 17th is great, but on the Jack Daniel's side it's disappointing to see another issue with Todd's car and not have him up there.
"We've got to take a little bit of a positive away from that in that we fixed the car and got it to go round the corners really well, we've just go to get it to go up the straights as we know, so onwards and upwards.
"We've got a short turnaround now and we've got four straight cars to head to New Zealand."
James Moffat – #360 Norton 360 Nissan Altima
Qualified Race 3: 22
Result Race 3: 19
Qualified Race 4: 24
Result Race 4: 20
Qualified Race 5: 22
Result Race 5: 15 (penalised 15 points post-race)
Championship position: 16th
"We're happy, because we made minor changes to the car that improved it in both races," said Moffat.
"In the last race, the Altima was probably the best it has been all weekend. I was quite happy with the way it was handling through the corners. We still have a little way to go to get it handle to handle as good in a straight-line, but to get some reasonable points, I'm pretty happy.
"I feel bad for turning around my old team-mate (Dean Fiore) on the front straight after the final Safety Car. It was my mistake and I feel bad for that."
Michael Caruso – #36 Norton 360 Nissan Altima
Qualified Race 3: 24
Result Race 3: 16
Qualified Race 4: 19
Result Race 4: 19
Qualified Race 5: 23
Result Race 5: 17
Championship position: 24th
"It was a tough day, but we knew that we would have a hard time down here," said Caruso.
"This event gave us a great chance to focus on our chassis as we wait for some more horsepower to come, and the team are working really hard back in the factory to make that happen as soon as possible.
"We tried a lot of things. Some good, some bad, and I guess out of that, we're learning a lot with a car that is only three events old.
"When you're running near the back, you say to yourself "I'm glad we haven't got a crashed car" considering some of the stuff that we saw for other drivers. We've come away with four straight cars, and I think the team did a very good job considering the uphill battle we're fighting."
Todd Kelly – #7 Jack Daniel's Nissan Altima
Qualified Race 3: 20
Result Race 3: DNF
Qualified Race 4: 16
Result Race 4: 16
Qualified Race 5: 21
Result Race 5: DNF
Championship position: 28th
"The worst car I've had all weekend was in the first race today where I ended up 16th. We changed the car for the last race and it was really, really good," said Todd Kelly.
"I just kept looking at the lap time and thinking, this car feels a lot better than the times I'm doing, even to Rick and Moff I was losing a lot of time up the straights, two or three car lengths to those guys.
"I should have twigged that something wasn't right, but I just thought that they were getting onto the straights better than me and they were pulling away from me up the straight, but there was something wrong with the engine from the start and unfortunately it let go and we've lost another one."
About Nissan
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Japan's second-largest automotive company, is headquartered in Yokohama, Japan, and is part of the Renault-Nissan Alliance. Operating with more than 248,000 employees globally, Nissan provided customers with more than 4.8 million vehicles in 2011, generating revenue of 9.4 trillion yen ($94.4 billion AUS). With a strong commitment to developing exciting and innovative products for all, Nissan delivers a comprehensive range of models under the Nissan and Infiniti brands. A pioneer in zero-emission mobility, Nissan made history with the introduction of the Nissan LEAF, the first affordable, mass-market, pure-electric vehicle and winner of numerous international accolades, including the prestigious 2011-2012 Car of the Year Japan and 2011 World Car of the Year Awards.
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