Return to Shannons' garage

Rick Kelly - Winners are Grinners

279 Views
No Comments
No Likes
Published on 20 September 2012

Rick Kelly, Shannons Supercar Showdown judge and V8 racing champion, shares his thoughts on the show, the contestants and achieving his own racing dreams.

The Shannon's Supercar Showdown is a fantastic chance for people to fulfil their dreams.

Do you wish there was something like this when you were getting started? 
"That's the reason Todd and I worked on the TV show, because when we were younger, we had an opportunity to be involved with The Young Lions Program, which was giving young guys a shot. And with the commercial reality of motor sport today, those opportunities aren’t out there and this, the Shannon's supercar showdown for us has been an avenue for providing that opportunity to great young guys & girls with a lot of talent that otherwise wouldn’t have had it. It is something we're really proud to be involved with"

How did you see the series unfold?
"It's been a rollercoaster for all the contestants, but over the series their characters shone through"

We’re now down to the final 3?
"Yes, at times we weren't sure which way it would go. Glenn Wood is a great young guy who stuck through without much experience. But even though he didn't have the miles the others had his personality shone through. Andre Heimgartner on the other hand has done a lot of race miles. He's quiet and young with endless amounts of potential. In the car he's impressive to watch. Jesse Dixon is very different to the other two guys. Inside car he's a lot more aggressive and puts a lot more force on the car, to do what he wants it to do. He's extremely thorough. He doesn't leave any stone unturned. He'll follow you around asking questions about absolute everything. Sometimes, he even over calculates things. This is a pretty considerable point of difference to the other two. You really want to help him out. When someone puts in the extra effort, they're the one that normally, in the long run, pops out, at the other end. Interesting to see how he goes. He hasn’t had the racing miles like Andre, but he does the homework before he gets in the car, which will help him."

What would be your top tips to our winner when he gets to Bathurst?
"Bathurst is a very tough track to get the hang of and it can really unnerve you if you go out in the early days of practice and try and drive too fast and make a mistake. You're confidence will be dragged down and you'll struggle to get that back. Given it's a four day race meeting, it's really important to do as much homework about driving the track, as you can and what to expect, which will help. It's about going out on the track and just starting off at a nice pace and just building up and keep building on that over the weekend. There's no point going out there really fast, really quick, as that’s when you do come unstuck. It's about progressing through the weekend, so by the time the race comes, you're nice and comfortable and you can do laps that are at a reasonably competitive race pace"

What are the chances of someone winning on their first time around?
"It’s never been done before! (laughs) The thing that's changed with V8 cars is all the teams used to pair up their 2 best drives and now you're not allowed to do that, so now there's 28 cars on the track with all the lead drivers doing the bulk of the laps, so when you've got two young guys in a car, it's very difficult to compete with that. So the aim with these guys is to aim for a solid finish. You want to get your first Bathurst under you're belt and get on with it"

To get a win, what do you need to do?
"You need to cross your t's and dot your i's...and make sure all the things around the edges are nice and neat and tidy, like your pit stops and your driver changes and so on. You've got to keep the car off the fence and on the lead lap and from then on it's a race to the finish line. But to be able attack in that last lap, you need to get to that point, 30 or so laps from the end, in the lead, with the car in a good condition"

You've won Bathurst twice and had a great career, do you feel you have you fulfilled your dreams yet?
"No not at all. If I had, I would have hung the helmet up. I still want to go out there and I want to win more Bathurst races and at least another championship or two, that's what we're in the game for. At the moment, with our team, we're busily working towards the point where we can attack and achieve that"