Kelly happy to be back on ‘my kind of track’

LEADING Nissan driver Rick Kelly has declared the Gold Coast 600 “my kind of track” as the former championship series winner aims to return to his glory days on top of the podium.

The younger Kelly brother endured a poor run to finish 16th at Bathurst this month but is keen to bounce back around the streets of Surfers Paradise, where he last won in 2006.

“When you head into the next round like this weekend you just want to do everything you can to get back up the front,’’ he said.

“I would be happy with a podium. I love the track, it’s hard and fast and it presents opportunities to throw the car up the front. It is my kind of track.”

For the 32-year-old, a third podium of 2015 would be a strong result for a team that is still finding its feet in the V8 Supercars championship.

Although the Gold Coast circuit holds similarities to the twists of Winton, where Kelly bagged his best points haul of the year, he said the closeness of the midfield meant Nissan would have to be at their best to push for the podium.

“It’s really hard to predict these days. We went to Darwin and got a pole and a podium at a track where we expected to have a lot of difficulty with such a long straight,” he said.

Kelly won the 2006 V8 Supercars championship in a Holden before branching off to form Kelly Racing with his brother and fellow driver Todd.

In 2013, they joined forces with the arriving Nissan brand – an association of which he is immensely proud.

“It was a bigger project than we anticipated and I am proud to have embarked on that and done something different,” he said.

Kelly holds 10th place ahead of James Courtney, who returns from injury this weekend, and is only 19 points behind Volvo driver Scott McLaughlin.