Rick Kelly says he owes his V8 Supercar Championship position to some homework he did at the start of the year.

The younger of the two Kelly brothers took a trip to Mildura during the Christmas Break with some serious questions to ask himself, the biggest one being: what do I have to do to win that championship?

“We worked out that we needed to finish in the top five, on average across the season,” Kelly said. “If we did that, we would have a very good chance of winning the championship.
“We felt we need to take it one session at a time – even one corner at a time – with greater focus on each step in the process. If we did that and stayed out of trouble as much as possible, the points would come and so would the success.
“At times it would mean being patient, rather than pitting it all on the line. It meant controlling that rush of blood that can undo your whole season. Basically, we need to qualify well, run near the front and finish races.”
Kelly has reflected on this philosophy, with not one DNF in a championship race this season, and he has only finished outside the top five twice.

With Kelly’s high rate of consistency this year, it is easy to forget that he is still one of the youngest drivers of the series.