KELLY Racing’s #22 Mustang is back on track after an extensive rebuild necessitated by a heartbreaking Perth fire.
Mason Kelly had been running a comfortable fifth in Race 2 of the Super2 round last month at Wanneroo Raceway when his Ford burst into flames, leaving the 19-year-old visibly devastated.
Thereafter, it’s been all about getting the car back together in time for next week’s Townsville round.
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It’s mission accomplished, with Kelly at Winton today for a shakedown.
“We got the car stripped down pretty quick, which is normal practice as it only takes a day or two with a couple of people working on it,” he said.
“A lot of the fire damage on the paintwork and chassis had to be repaired by sanding it back before repainting the shell.
“PPG has been helping me this season, so it was a good opportunity to practice my painting with base coat and clear for the cage and direct gloss for the panels.
“There was so much burnt stuff that could not be repaired and had to go in the bin and we ordered a big list of items to replace it… as much work as it’s been, I’ve enjoyed it and it’s given me a chance to learn all the aspects of the car.
Part of the rebuild has included Mason’s Bathurst 1000-winning father Todd producing parts such as a new exhaust system.
“It was good to have access to the Kelly Precision side of the business and we’ve got really good guys working there,” Mason continued.
“Any parts we need to dig out from the server and make is quite straightforward, the personnel in there can search for any part to produce.
“With this new exhaust system, we needed a set of some new flanges to bolt to the engine and these were on the server ensuring we got the parts the following day.
“I really enjoy working on the car. It’s good to have a solid knowledge of what’s underneath me. I think one of the most important things about being a race driver is having a good understanding of the car.”
Kelly is now intent on recapturing his Perth pace.
“Coming from Perth, it was the strongest pace we’d had up until this point and we were quite competitive, but if we can carry a little bit of that momentum into Townsville then we should go okay,” he added.
Among others at Winton today are Kelly’s teammate Aaron Cameron, who is second in the Super2 standings, and Tickford Gen3 wildcard Lochie Dalton.
