The Formula 1 support event is only 26km north of the team’s Dandenong headquarters and the second closest event for the team; only the annual Sandown 500 a mere 17km “around the corner” is closer.
The weekend schedule at Albert Park includes four back-to-back qualifying sessions on Thursday followed by a pair of 13-lap races on Friday and additional 13-lap events on both Saturday and Sunday.
“I always look forward to the Australian Grand Prix,” said Todd Kelly. “It’s probably the most relaxed weekend we do for the season with shorter races spread over more days. This gives us a lot more time to enjoy everything the event has to offer. I personally love going for a walk around the paddock and checking out all of the old race cars on display. There’s always some really nice stuff to look at. Albert Park is also one of my favorite tracks to drive. It has a bit of everything – some fast corners, slow corners really big braking corners, and the track flows really well and generally allows for some good racing and passing opportunities. The Nissan has had some good pace there in the past, so I can’t wait to hit the track and see where we are. I think Simona (de Silvestro) will really enjoy the place as well. It will be a great opportunity for her to experience the car on another track with different characteristics than Adelaide, Bathurst and Winton which are the only ones she has driven on so far.”
Kelly scored two top 10s in the four races here last year while teammate Michael Caruso scored a trio of top 10 finishes including fifth place in the final race on Sunday.
