Rick Kelly Should Have Been Shot Into The Sheets

[Beer Baron]

...

Mating call of the loser.

Holden won within the bounds of the rules...

...If the the contact was anything but a racing incident, the stewards would have done something during or after the race....

umm, they did do something. they penalised r kelly. they also penalised tander for his race 2 efforts. so you could hardly say what they did was 'within the rules' given the fact that both toll cars were penalised. so clearly they won outside the bounds of the rules, it's just that the penalties they received were not as damaging as the t-boning lowndes received whilst stranded mid-corner (and no of course you can't blame kelly for that, well not directly at least).

[2rismo]

Am I the only one chuckling at how long it took Holden fans to come up with response on this

[benm]

Aside from Ford's star driver, they couldn't get enough competitors up into the pointy end of the field to advance their team's cause.

That's not likely to change anytime soon either.

All those top Holden drivers have proven themselves over the past 10yrs.... Skaife, Tander, Kelly Brothers, they all have Championship or Bathurst/Sandown wins between them like they are going out of fashion.

Then you look at the very few top ford drivers that are still trying to prove themselves... Lowndes (in a ford), Bright, Winterbottom, Whincup. Sure they can all drive but they are still all trying to win something for themselves instead of sacrifice points/wins to let other Ford drivers/teams win.

[Roy]

Well Scathing. You are at least living up to your username.

[djr81]

That's not likely to change anytime soon either.

All those top Holden drivers have proven themselves over the past 10yrs.... Skaife, Tander, Kelly Brothers, they all have Championship or Bathurst/Sandown wins between them like they are going out of fashion.

Then you look at the very few top ford drivers that are still trying to prove themselves... Lowndes (in a ford), Bright, Winterbottom, Whincup. Sure they can all drive but they are still all trying to win something for themselves instead of sacrifice points/wins to let other Ford drivers/teams win.

Skaife - well what has he done this year, DNF's aside?

Um, Tander has proven what? That he knows how to block & how to whinge about black flags?

Kelly brothers - erm, Todd has won how many championships? And Rick, before he punted his way to the current one?

Lowndes only won Bathurst this year & Bright Sandown. Their co drivers did much the same.

The previous champion drives a Ford & the one prior has moved to the US.

Who would have thought that entering a race for your own benefit & racing on your own merits (As opposed to punting & blocking your way around the track) would be cause for criticism.

[Russman]

Ok what I should have said was...

I've been told that they won't be co-MANAGED next year so they won't be able to swap seats for the enduro's next year and if they stay as they are then the will have a huge budget cut. I'm not 100% sure about this but I hope it makes the racing better with less politics and just racing between drivers not teams.

I like Ford however I would have been just as happy for lowndes to win in a Holden because he is a top driver. I'm not arguing for Ford. I just reckon lowndes got screwed over but the TEAM instead of kelly.

Basically I don't think it was a fair battle. that's all...

[djr81]

HRT/HSV will have a huge budget cut next year regardless of whether they are in collusion or not. The spending cap to be introduced next year is rumoured to affect both Walkinshaw teams, 888, FPR & somewhat surreally given their current budget problems, DJR. The remaining teams are supposedly under the cap (Well under in some caes).

[Roy]

Skaife - well what has he done this year, DNF's aside?

Um, Tander has proven what? That he knows how to block & how to whinge about black flags?

Kelly brothers - erm, Todd has won how many championships? And Rick, before he punted his way to the current one?

Lowndes only won Bathurst this year & Bright Sandown. Their co drivers did much the same.

The previous champion drives a Ford & the one prior has moved to the US.

Who would have thought that entering a race for your own benefit & racing on your own merits (As opposed to punting & blocking your way around the track) would be cause for criticism.

How many heat wins did Sakife have along with polls? Ditto Tander? He had the pace...but true to form the past few years Skaife has been red hot for finding himself being punted or spinning.

I didnt realise so many SAU folk were so critical of the V8 circus/drivers/teams

[djr81]

Well the point was made in response to the assertion that the Ford drivers hadn't won any enduros/championships & the Holden mob had. It wasn't realy about round wins, but any way. I think Skaife has found new & innovative ways to have mechanical DNF's. So good on him, I say.

Roy, I think you will find that other than a few zealots, most people don't really get that fired up over the various teams. The exception to this seems to be HRT/HSV & that is mostly (As far as I can figure) because of the amount of dodgy stuff they have been doing over so many years. That & a certain level of arrogance. Personally I preferred it when HRT couldn't even scrape the budget together to contest the full SATCC. Ahhhh, happy days.

[scathing]

Basically I don't think it was a fair battle. that's all...

That I'd agree with, if you're talking about a straight Kelly vs Lowndes battle.

Whether Lowndes was off the line or not on the previous corner, with the gap he had it wouldn't have made a difference if he could have braked on the race line and taken a clean entry into the corner.

[Russman]

From my perspective (given that I don't follow V8 Supercars, and I couldn't give a toss about Ford nor Holden but I do like motorsport, is pretty independent) it looked to me like Lowndes drove into Kelly.

You seem to know a lot about V8 supercars given you don't follow it?

That I'd agree with, if you're talking about a straight Kelly vs Lowndes battle.

That's the only reason I made the comments I did. It should be about drivers, not teams.

[Russman]

From my perspective (given that I don't follow V8 Supercars, and I couldn't give a toss about Ford nor Holden but I do like motorsport, is pretty independent) it looked to me like Lowndes drove into Kelly.

You seem to know a lot about V8 supercars given you don't follow it?

That I'd agree with, if you're talking about a straight Kelly vs Lowndes battle.

That's the only reason I made the comments I did. It should be about drivers, not teams.

[Roy]

Personally I preferred it when HRT couldn't even scrape the budget together to contest the full SATCC. Ahhhh, happy days.

Actually, i was a big fan of the old HRT back when Percy and Mezera were flogging themselves for the team, Porr old Tomas god the team on its feet and then Holden screwed him. He employed the right people, got the sponsors and got them headed in the right direction...and look where it got him. Still my fav driver.

[djr81]

Yeah, Tomas was old school. He did it tough to get into racing in the first place (Didn't have a rich Dad to grease the wheels). Shame he & Winston didn't get on. Shame also that Holden shafted him after all his good work.

[quote(scathing @ 17 Dec 2006, 11:04 PM)

From my perspective (given that I don't follow V8 Supercars, and I couldn't give a toss about Ford nor Holden but I do like motorsport, is pretty independent) it looked to me like Lowndes drove into Kelly.

What race were you watching? The racecam from RKelly's car clearly shows he punted Lowndes square in the back bumper. That is what he got the penalty for.

Edited December 18, 2006 by djr81

[Russman]

man he looks a bit like michael jackson...

[phunky_monkey]

Taken from LS1 forums:

A Message from Rick Kelly to all Toll HSV DT Business Partners, Sponsors & Dealers

Well, we did it. We got the Championship Cup and the Teams Trophy for 2006. Garth, I and the entire team all feel very relieved the tough season is now behind us.

It was a classic team effort that I hope will be useful for all our Business Partners in some way in your marketing plans and advertising programs.

This note is a bit unusual (and lengthy), but, given some recent media comments, I wanted to share with our family of business partners some thoughts:

1. Firstly, thank you for all the encouragement leading up to the final round. There was a lot hanging on it for everyone. And it was very reassuring to know I had such a great lot of friends at HSV, Toll, Holden and other Sponsors right behind us. Beating Craig Lowndes was always going to be a challenge. I knew I was going in as the underdog given Craig’s high profile and experience.

2. Did I tap Craig Lowndes in Race 3? Yes, I did. Did I cause the tap? No, I didn’t. After we both committed ourselves to braking for Honda, there was clearly enough room down the righthand side of Craig for a pass. After positioning my car in the gap, Craig knew ‘I had him’ and began to move over after we were both already braking to the full potential of our cars. He did not allow racing room, which is where the contact was made.

3. Was the tap of such significance to cause Craig to ‘fire’ into Todd and lose control? In my opinion no and from the TV vision, we could see Craig’s closing speed on Todd was far too high for Craig to be able to pull the car up before making contact with Todd.

4. How do I feel about Craig’s comments on TV, newspapers and the Press Release, saying ‘On the day we had superior car speed and it was going to take an accident or incident for them (HSV Dealer Team) to beat us – unfortunately we had both”? Craig has really gone out on a limb here, and I wouldn’t mind betting the authorities look at that comment. I would like to see proof he had superior car speed. I can’t believe Craig would say those words. The PR spin operators must have got involved because while we had some issues in Race 1, my car was more than a match for Craig’s on Sunday.

5. How do I feel about comments that other Holden Teams helped me by blocking? I drove my own race with my own plan – I did not ask for help, nor do I accept my team mate or any fellow Holden Drivers did anything they would not otherwise do in any other race.

Despite this, let me add I have always greatly admired the feats of Lance Armstrong who has always stated his triumphs come as a result of great co-operation with his team mates and I hope our Sport isn’t reduced to the point where planning, trust and understanding with your team mate in motor sport is an ‘offence’.

6. At the four-hour inquiry on Monday, both Drivers were only allowed to be accompanied by one Team representative. Craig had the Triple Eight Team Owner, Roland Dane and I had my Data Engineer, Mike Henry. In my opinion, our evidence was much more convincing as we took a scientific and methodical approach to the analysis of the incident, whereas the other party put the emphasis on emotion. Roland Dane stated at the inquiry that one of his Engineers said he heard me say over the radio to my Chief Engineer before the start of the Race words to the effect that ‘I will make sure this Race will be over in about 2 Laps, rather than 32 Laps!’ Roland Dane was asked by the Investigators to provide the proof of that comment. He couldn’t and I know he couldn’t, because not in my wildest dreams would I have made such a comment. The nicest thing I could say was that it was a blatant exaggeration!! When I heard Roland Dane resort to those tactics, I started to realise all of Triple 8’s creditability on this matter was zero.

Finally, the thing that meant most to me after the round was the overwhelming congratulations and genuine well wishes of virtually every driver from both the Ford and Holden Teams. While there will be controversy among the Holden and Ford fans, it genuinely felt to me like my win was a popular one with my fellow race drivers and competitors, as they understand what happens in racing. The thoughts they expressed to me after the race will be remembered long after the controversy Triple 8 created by their protest and unnecessary sour grapes approach to whipping up a media frenzy and hysteria with Ford fans. It’s all been pretty average stuff on their part.

The best thing all of us can do now is celebrate the victory. Now that I have passed on these thoughts to you, it’s time to relax, head off to the farm for Christmas and look on the light side which is best illustrated by what some scallywag sent me as a potential hot Memorabilia seller next year!! See attached.

Best wishes for Christmas and again, thanks for your great support - that No. 1 on our car next year will be very special and you are all part of it

RICK

[email protected]

Attach :

[ctjet]

LS1 forum rules...

[Russman]

I can imagine that whole speach with the school girl voice...

Point 5 is a good way of saying that no I didn't ask for it but yes they did help me...

If Roland dane made those comments that's a pretty cheap and desperate plea.

[phunky_monkey]

LS1 forum rules...

???

[Roy]

What the hell is he on about with Point 5. Lance Armstrong is 3,000 times the champion he will ever be and the guys of Discovery/US Postal etc are a great team in a great team sport.

Now motor racing will always require great team work, but on the track its not a team sport. Team mates dont openlly slow for 9/10ths of a lap and go down a lap so that they can give their team mate a tow down the straights. A team mate in a wounded car doesnt get to take his team mates unmarked car out for the rest of the race. A driver doent get to use his team mates tyres, and the team mate sure as shit cant do an extra stop so the lead driver doesnt lose time etc.

Motor Racing brings a team of ppl together, but it is not a team sport.

Saying they had the same car speed in race 2 is also a joke. Rick should jsut come out and say we tapped as a result of hard close racing...thats it...but we were both racing hard. Tryign to blame the other party when he came off worse for wear isnt how a champion behaves.

Anyway...Tomas was far cooler