Rick Kelly will race in the colours of lighting technology company Sengled this season, replacing long-time sponsor Jack Daniel’s.
Following the appearance of Kelly’s car with Sengled logos at Monday’s Winton test, Nissan Motorsport has unveiled the former champion’s full livery for the new season.
Sengled produces a range of app-controlled lights that also feature speaker and webcam technologies.
Kelly, who has raced in the colours of Jack Daniel’s since his family’s V8 Supercars team was established in 2009, says it’s exciting to bring a new sponsor into the sport.
“This year establishes a new partnership for me and one that I am very excited about to support Sengled growth in Australia,” said Kelly.
“It’s always terrific to help introduce a new brand to the sport and I feel really fortunate to be involved with Sengled.
“The car livery is a huge change from what I have been used to since starting our own team and what we’ve managed to achieve is something really unique.”
Kelly enters the new season armed with a fresh chassis, marking his first new car in three years.
“Out of the box it was exactly what where we finished last year, which is perfect,” he said of the car’s performance at Winton.
“You don’t want a new car to be any different. We can really pick up from where we left off at the end of last year which was with a strong podium.
“The test was nice and hot which made it perfect preparation for Clipsal.”
Kelly’s team will be under more scrutiny than ever at the start of this season while the future of its Nissan factory deal continues to hang in the balance.
Team co-owner and fellow driver Todd Kelly enthuses that the squad is in better shape than ever ahead of Adelaide, but is cautious about predicting strong results.
“It’s always hard to know where you’re going to roll out in relation to the field,” he said.
“We made some really good gains over the break and the team I think now is more prepared than I’ve ever seen it since we’ve owned the team.
“The staff is spot on, we’ve got the right people in the right places and we’re just organised. That’s a really good thing for the start of a season.”