New warpaint that pays tribute to the fans has been unveiled for the Kelly Racing Castrol Ford Mustang of Rick Kelly and Dale Wood, ahead of this weekend’s Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.
With motorsport worldwide suffering from Covid-19 travel and spectator restrictions, the Kelly Racing organisation sought to make up for it with a livery integrating images submitted of fans of the team. Each member of the Kelly Racing squad has also signed inside the driver’s door.
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“I’m honestly blown away by the support that was shown from all of the fans with this livery, to have around 1000 fans ride with myself and Castrol at the mountain is fantastic and it’s a real honour for myself and Dale to represent them this weekend,” says Kelly.
“They come from all walks of life. Some of them front-line workers doing it tough, others race fans that may be struggling. A lot of them would traditionally be here at the mountain cheering us on, but with the circumstances we know that wasn’t possible this year. So we wanted to involve them some how and bring them to the mountain and I think this livery is something we can all be really proud of.”
“The cool thing for me was that we included every photo that was submitted, it didn’t matter if you’re a big supporter of our team or anyone else in pit lane, if you wanted to join us this year and submit your photo then you’re on the car.
“There are also some really cool throwback images from back when I was quite new to the sport and a lot of selfies that people have taken with me at the track over the years which is awesome. The other drivers need to be aware they can’t rub their tyres down the door anymore because you’ll be rubbing people’s faces off.”
For Kelly, the event represents the 20th anniversary of his debut at Mount Panorama with Kmart Racing in 2001. He finished fourth that year with Nathan Pretty, before the pairing starring the following year — finishing fourth for the Holden Young Lions team.
Kelly then won the next two Bathurst 1000s alongside Greg Murphy. He also recorded a memorable second-place finish in 2006.