Rick Kelly suggests this weekend’s Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour will pose an even greater challenge courtesy of his Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 experience.
Kelly will join five-time IndyCar series champ Scott Dixon and R-Motorsport regular Jake Dennis aboard the Castrol-backed Aston Martin Vantage GT3 for this year’s event, having previously campaigned a Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 in 2014 and 2016.
The two-time Bathurst 1000 winner has sat out the last three Bathurst 12 Hours, and suggests the opening practice session on Friday morning will be spent learning his new steed and unlearning the muscle memory built by his time in Supercars.
“A lot of people are like ‘you’re an expert around this track because you’ve done so many miles’,” Kelly told Speedcafe.com.
“I think it actually becomes more difficult because all those miles are in a right-hand-drive Supercar.
“All my brake references and positioning of the car’s all been set for so many years, and it’s quite difficult and quite a challenge to undo all that learning.
“(You) sit on the other side of the car (in the Aston) and go 20, 30 metres deeper under brakes.
“I’ve got to unlearn all that in tomorrow’s practice sessions, work out what this car’s capable of and try and get used to that as quick as I can.”
Kelly has had some experience in the car, having flown to Portugal late last year where he, together with Dixon, sampled the Aston.
However it was a limited opportunity, and weather affected, meaning this weekend poses the first time he’ll have any significant time in the car.
“I had the chance to fly over the Portugal and test the car at the end of last year, did a handful of laps there,” he said.
“That was a great challenge as well, learning the Portimao track, which is pretty challenging, and the car in one go.”
While Dixon has also had only limited experience in the car, Dennis campaigned it as part of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup.
The Englishman was also in contention in the latter stages of last year’s 12 Hour, ultimately finishing second to the Earl Bamber Motorsport Porsche.
“Jake’s definitely done a lot of miles and Scott’s more accomplished than any of us put together, so he knows the deal,” Kelly said of his co-drivers.
“We’ve got to remember as well there’s a lot of practice, which is great, and it’s a very long race so we don’t have to set the world on fire for 12 hours.
“It’s more settling in, staying out of trouble, and putting in some good long stints.
“Everyone speaks of having to double stint the tyres and so on. We’ve got all those challenges to work through, like every other team and try and do a good job of all those elements so that we can position ourselves well towards the end.”
Opening practice for the Bathurst 12 Hour begins at 08:40 on Friday morning, a half hour session which excludes Class A Platinum and Gold rated drivers.
The second session, which is all-inclusive, follows immediately at 09:15 and runs for an hour.
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