Rick Kelly has had one of the most successful rookie starts in the history of Australian car racing.
At 17, an age most drivers still have to drive with their parents, he was driving at speeds over 250 kmh on his way to a second placing, by just a solitary point, in the Formula Ford Championship in 2000. The next year he moved to Formula Holden, aged 18, and claimed 12 wins of a possible 16, including six pole positions to become the first rookie ever to claim the Australian Drivers Championship series and take out the coverted CAMS Gold Star Award.
From Rookie to Bathurst legend
Moving on to the cut-throat, and potentially deadly, world of V8 Supercars, it didn’t take long for Kelly to live up to the promise he showed as a rookie. Aged just 20, in 2003, Kelly joined Holden team-mate Greg Murphy at Bathurst’s holy Mt Panorama racing track and recorded the most emphatic victory seen at the track in years. In doing so, he became Bathurst’s youngest ever winner in the event’s 43-year history. He then backed up the performance the very next year, aged still just 21, to win back to back at Bathurst with Murphy. He also took out his first solo round win at a wet Eastern Creek course then snared pole position at the Sandown 500.
Crowd appreciation
How did it feel to win back to back Bathursts at 21? “It’s hard to explain,” he says. You couldn’t meet a more down-to-earth sportstar than Rick Kelly. He’s as humble as is he talented. “It’s incredible,” he continues. “That’s why we put so much effort into what we do, knowing you’ve beaten everyone else is fantastic and the reaction and the support you get from the crowds on that podium when we win is just so incredible.”Rick Kelly in action
Rick Kelly
Rick Kelly