2006 V8 Supercar Champion Rick Kelly has played down the home-ground advantage for Victorian V8 Supercar teams at Winton Motor Raceway, ahead of the Winton V8 SuperSprint on 15-17 May.
Kelly’s Nissan Motorsport outfit is amongst the V8 teams to use Winton as a testing facility, but Kelly says many other factors come into play during the cut-throat competition of a race meeting.
“The home track advantage isn’t really an advantage anymore; it’s just another track on the calendar,” Kelly said.
“Just looking at the results over the years, Queensland-based teams have been strong down here, and vice-versa.”
Nevertheless, Winton holds fond memories for Nissan; it remains the only circuit where they have won a race in the V8 Supercar era, Kelly’s team-mate James Moffat claiming a victory in 2013.
“Over the years we’ve done a lot of miles around Winton, and for us it’s a track that presents opportunities, there’s no doubt about that,” Kelly said.
“If we do a good job there, we should be well and truly towards the front; there are no big ticket items standing in the way of us getting a good result there.
“In saying that, it is a very, very difficult track to get right, from both a setup and driving point of view.”
Kelly said the tight and technical nature of the Winton circuit can produce unpredictable results, making it a favourite for spectators.
“Winton is an interesting one, as it offers up a fair few different types of corners,” Kelly said.
“There are some really tight corners, the change of direction at the start of the lap, and there’s also the sweeper, which is a fair bit faster.
“There are also some bumpy braking areas to deal with.
“Winton always throws up a couple of interesting things, last year it was the patching, and this year who knows, it could be rain, it could be hail, it could be a bit of oil on the track.
“It’s always an eventful one, and it always catches a few people out.”
This year’s race format sees a pair of 60km races on Saturday, followed by a 200km feature on Sunday. With no pit stops in Saturday’s sprints and limited overtaking opportunities, Kelly believes qualifying will take on even greater importance than usual.
“It’s a track that is extremely hard to pass on; if you qualify well and do a good job, you’ll stay up the front, if you start up the back with a quick car, it’s really difficult to make progress,” Kelly said.
“For us, as always, we’re very focussed on the qualifying pace.”
All motorsport fans in north-eastern Victoria can purchase their tickets online at https://www.outix.com.au/sites/winton/. Reserved grandstand seats are still available but are filling quickly, so fans are advised to book in advance to avoid disappointment.
