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Rick Kelly’s Nissan Altima will adopt a classic Castrol colour scheme as the squad embraces the Rabble.Club Sandown 500 retro round.
The Braeside operation has paid tribute to the Castrol Perkins Racing Holden Commodore entries that were piloted by Larry Perkins, Russell Ingall and Steven Richards during the 2002 Supercars season.
It was the same season that saw Kelly make his full-time series debut with the Holden Young Lions outfit.
The striking red, green and white paint job scored a pair of enduro podiums when Ingall and Richards combined at the Queensland 500 and the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.
Run by the Perkins Engineering outfit which eventually morphed into Kelly Racing in 2009, the livery has an emotional connection for Kelly.
To this day, current engine builders from the Perkins Engineering Team era still work at the Kelly owned squad.
“A lot of my memories of our sport are signposted by the Castrol cars that raced at that time,” said Kelly.
“This car is particularly special for me because 2002 was my first full-time year in the championship so itʼs quite surreal to see a car that I raced against, but with my name on it.
“Castrol is such an iconic brand in motorsport with a rich history and emotional connection with fans. We’ve had fans at every event this year support us because of Castrol which is an absolute honour.
“When we started our Kelly Racing operation, we were in-part born out of the Perkins Engineering outfit, so it is a proud moment to represent that era with this special livery”.
Sitting seventh in the championship, Kelly will welcome a new co-driver to the #15 car for this year’s Pirtek Enduro Cup with 2016 Super2 series winner Garry Jacobson joining the fold.
The MW Motorsport driver, who is currently third in the Super2 standings, will be on double duty this weekend.
“Having Garry drive the Altima in Super2 will be a massive bonus for the enduros,” said Kelly.
“He’s very quick and we both want the same things from the car so I’m really excited at our potential for a good result.”
The new look car will hit the track for the first time when the Sandown 500 begins on Friday.
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