ADELAIDE, Australia – Nissan Motorsport has made a promising start in the manufacturer's V8 Supercars Championship debut at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide, South Australia over the weekend.
In the race debut of the Nissan Altima V8 Supercar, the team performed admirably to be immediately competitive, a hugely positive sign for the season ahead.
The team was knocking on the door of the top 10 all weekend, highlighted by Michael Caruso qualifying in 13th position on Friday, and Rick Kelly finishing 11th in Saturday's opening 78-lap race.
Both Rick Kelly and James Moffat leave Adelaide with a solid bank of championship points, sitting in 11th and 12th respectively in the drivers championship standings after both posting two top 15 finishes at the Adelaide Parklands street circuit.
Todd Kelly showed great pace but failed to finish both races, due to power steering issues on Saturday and becoming the innocent victim of a multi-car accident on Sunday.
Michael Caruso's finished Saturday race in 23rd place after a lengthy pit stop for steering repairs, but was forced to retire from Sunday's race as a result of both cool suit failure and the loss of fourth gear.
Nissan Motorsport will be back on-track in two weeks time at the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix and the Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit in Melbourne, Victoria.
NISSAN MOTORSPORT QUOTES
Rick Kelly - #15 Jack Daniel's Nissan Altima
"It was a really good race, obviously we were a little bit slow around the pits today, but we trucked away and were 11th at the Safety Car," said Rick Kelly.
"I was really happy about the race at that point. I put a good pass on (Scott) Pye who had more straight line speed than us, which was quite obvious. For us that was really, really good and a top 10 was well within our sights at the restart.
"I got spun round, it was all a bit hectic out there, and unfortunately I was the bloke who ended up at the back. We are very lucky to finish 14th with a spin like that and to get away without a DNF.
"We'll take that, see what happens from the incident, and go on to the Grand Prix and try and learn some more.
"The car is very physical to drive but I was really, really happy to that point, we just didn't make any mistakes. We were stuck in there with cars that had a bit more speed than us, so we just stuck with them until they made a mistake and snuck past.
"I was really happy to move into 11th at that point of the race and the guys should be very proud. We've got a really solid base to move from now.
"We got involved in an incident where we were in the wrong place at the wrong time and I'm not too stoked about getting spun around and a bit of damage on the car, especially taking Todd out, which is disappointing for the whole team.
"All in all we've had a solid weekend for our first event, so we can take that and move on to the Grand Prix and have a good red hot go and continue to improve the cars."
James Moffat - #360 Norton Nissan Altima
"Everybody at Nissan Motorsport should be really, really proud," said James Moffat.
"To finish 500 kilometres with no dramas is full credit to them.
"I wouldn't say I had the easy job, but it's hard work around here. Relatively speaking compared to the workload that everybody's been through in the team, I did have the easy job this weekend.
"To finish 13th is, I think, a good solid result for us. Gives us something to definitely work on. "We come out of here with a straight car and we can head to the Grand Prix, where we don't have points on the line, and hopefully we can hopefully try a few things and learn from that.
"I'm really excited about the car we have underneath us because when we find a bit of engine power, we are going to be up there giving them a hard time, which is good."
Michael Caruso - #36 Norton Nissan Altima
"Unfortunately we had a cool suit failure and obviously it was hard conditions to drive in," said Michael Caruso.
"Then we actually lost fourth gear as well. A hard day for the team but "Moff' did a good job to bring it home.
"We will put our heads down and work on.
"We can take a lot of positives away and a lot of learning from the cars. Ultimately this is our first test. We need to evaluate it.
"Obviously it's a bit hard today but once we get back home we will be able to realise what we've done in such a short period of time."
Todd Kelly - #7 Jack Daniel's Nissan Altima
"I was really happy with the car, it was the first time I've got to settle down and actually race people," said Todd Kelly.
"Even though we struggled off the corners, I'd lose two or three car lengths out of the corner. It was unbelievable that with some of those guys in the mid-field we could get it all back under brakes and in the middle of the corners.
"Even after they pulled away down the straight we could get around them one way or another and pass them.
"When we get on top of our straight line speed these Altimas are going to be unreal.
"They are really enjoyable to drive and even though the race ended early I felt really good in the car at that point and wanted to press on and pick up a few spots at the restart."
RESULTS – 2013 CLIPSAL 500
ADELAIDE PARKLANDS STREET CIRCUIT – ADELAIDE, SA
2013 V8 Supercars Championship
Driver's Standings after Race 2
1. Craig Lowndes 279
2. Jamie Whincup 267
3. Will Davison 240
4. Russell Ingall 198
5. James Courtney 192
6. Scott McLaughlin 186
7. Jonathon Webb 168
8. Tony D'Alberto 159
9. Shane van Gisbergen 150
10. Scott Pye 138
11. Rick Kelly 135 (#15 Jack Daniel's Nissan Altima)
12. James Moffat 129 (#360 Norton Nissan Altima)
25. Michael Caruso 36 (#36 Norton Nissan Altima)
28. Todd Kelly (#7 Jack Daniel's Nissan Altima)
RESULTS: Race 1 Qualifying
1. Shane van Gisbergen
2. Mark Winterbottom
3. Craig Lowndes
4. Fabian Coulthard
5. Jamie Whincup
6. Jonathon Webb
7. Will Davison
8. Alexandre Premat
9. James Courtney
10. Scott McLaughlin
13. Michael Caruso (#36 Norton Nissan Altima)
14. James Moffat (#360 Norton Nissan Altima)
17. Todd Kelly (#7 Jack Daniel's Nissan Altima)
19. Rick Kelly (#15 Jack Daniel's Nissan Altima)
RESULTS: Race 1 (78 laps)
1. Craig Lowndes
2. Will Davison
3. Jamie Whincup
4. Alexandre Premat
5. James Courtney
6. Scott McLaughlin
7. Garth Tander
8. Jonathon Webb
9. Alex Davison
10. Russell Ingall
11. Rick Kelly (#15 Jack Daniel's Nissan Altima)
14. James Moffat (#360 Norton Nissan Altima)
23. Michael Caruso (#36 Norton Nissan Altima)
DNF Todd Kelly (#7 Jack Daniel's Nissan Altima)
RESULTS: Race 2 Qualifying
1. Shane van Gisbergen
2. Mark Winterbottom
3. Jamie Whincup
4. Will Davison
5. Fabian Coulthard
6. Alexandre Premat
7. Scott McLaughlin
8. Craig Lowndes
9. Russell Ingall
10. James Courtney
16. Rick Kelly (#15 Jack Daniel's Nissan Altima)
19. James Moffat (#360 Norton Nissan Altima)
23. Michael Caruso (#36 Norton Nissan Altima)
24. Todd Kelly (#7 Jack Daniel's Nissan Altima)
RESULTS: Race 2 (78 laps)
1. Shane van Gisbergen
2. Jamie Whincup
3. Craig Lowndes
4. Russell Ingall
5. Mark Winterbottom
6. Will Davison
7. James Courtney
8. Tony D'Alberto
9. Scott McLaughlin
10. Jonathon Webb
13. James Moffat (#360 Norton Nissan Altima)
14. Rick Kelly (#15 Jack Daniel's Nissan Altima)
DNF Todd Kelly (#7 Jack Daniel's Nissan Altima)
DNF Michael Caruso (#36 Norton Nissan Altima)