KELLY RACING CUT BACK TO TWO CARS IN 2020

Kelly Racing to scale back to two cars – Photo: InSyde Media

KELLY Racing has confirmed it will race two entries in the 2020 Supercars Championship, cutting back from its traditional four-car model.

By BRUCE NEWTON

But it has not revealed what make of car it will be campaigning, who will be driving them and in what sponsorship colours.

The expectation is that Kelly Racing will race two Ford Mustangs with team co-owner Rick Kelly driving one and rising Kiwi star Andre Heimgartner behind the wheel of the other.

Current drivers Simona de Silvestro and Garry Jacobson are expected to leave the team.

But the move to Fords doesn’t mean the Nissan Altimas Kelly Racing developed and raced for seven years have been abandoned, as in a brief statement issued this morning team co-owner Todd Kelly has revealed a two-car Dunlop Super2 team will debut in 2020.

Kelly did not say it would use Altimas in Super2 but that is the blindingly obvious conclusion to be drawn.

The statement confirmed Kelly Racing has sold two of its four Racing Entitlement Contracts (RECs) and has retained the other two.

It did not name the buyers of the RECs, but with several teams potentially in the market place including the Sydney-based Tekno Autosports, Team 18 and Matt Stone Racing there are various potential new homes for them.

Entries for the 2020 championship have to be filed by Friday.

Next year will mark the first time since it entered the championship in 2009 that Kelly Racing hasn’t entered either four Altimas or Holden Commodores in the championship.

The departure of the Nissans will also mean Supercars reverts to a traditional Holden v Ford stoush for the first time since 2012.

Read the full Kelly Racing statement here:

Kelly Racing confirms it will consolidate its Supercar operations to two cars for the 2020 Virgin Australia Supercar Season, following the sale of two of the Team’s Racing Entitlement Contracts (REC’s). The Team continues to own its other two REC’s.

Team Principal Todd Kelly comments, “We have operated with four Supercars since we opened the doors almost 11 years ago and introduced the first new manufacturer to the sport with Nissan under the Car of the Future regulations.

“However in this competitive environment it has necessitated a reconsideration of our structure to create the optimal model for the future. This has resulted in our consolidation and focus on two Supercars for the 2020 season and our intention includes running two Dunlop Super2 entries from next year.”

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