Rick Kelly (born 17 January 1983) is an Australian professional racing driver who previously competed in the

Supercars Championship The Supercars Championship is a touring car racing category in Australia, running as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) regulations, governing the sport. Supercars events take place in all Australi ...

. He last drove the No. 15

Ford Mustang GT The Ford Mustang is a series of American automobiles manufactured by Ford. In continuous production since 1964, the Mustang is currently the longest-produced Ford car nameplate. Currently in its sixth generation, it is the fifth-best selli ...

for

Kelly Racing Kelly Grove Racing (formerly known as Kelly Racing and Nissan Motorsport) was an Australian motor racing team which competes in the Supercars Championship. The team made its debut in 2009, and raced Holden VE Commodores until the end of the ...

. Previously, he drove for the HSV Dealer Team with whom he won the

Bathurst 1000 The Bathurst 1000 (formally known as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supercars Championship, the most re ...

alongside

Greg Murphy Gregory Murphy (born 23 August 1972) is a New Zealand professional racing driver, best known as a four-time winner of the Bathurst 1000. Greg Murphy joined Jeremy Clarkson and James May presenting Top Gear (2002 TV series), Top Gear Live, when ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

. In 2006, Kelly extended his success by winning the V8 Supercar Championship for the HSV Dealer Team. His older brother

Todd Kelly Todd Kelly (born 9 October 1979) is a retired Australian professional racing driver who competed in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. He is the older brother of fellow Supercars driver and former Bathurst 1000 winner, Rick Kelly. ...

was also a racing driver who won the

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...

. His parents John and Margaret Kelly formed

in 2009 with Rick and Todd Kelly as lead drivers, expanding to a 4 car operation.

2006 Supercar Championship

In 2006, Kelly won the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series after being one of the most consistent performers throughout the season. The victory, however, was not without its share of controversy. Despite not winning a single round overall (though he did win an individual race), or scoring a pole position in any individual race, Kelly entered the final round of the series at

Phillip Island Phillip Island ( Boonwurrung: ''Corriong'', ''Worne'' or ''Millowl'') is an Australian island about south-southeast of Melbourne, Victoria. The island is named after Governor Arthur Phillip, the first Governor of New South Wales, by explore ...

seven points ahead of his nearest competitor,

Craig Lowndes Craig Andrew Lowndes (born 21 June 1974) is an Australian racing driver in the Repco Supercars Championship competing in the Holden ZB Commodore for Triple Eight Race Engineering. He is also a TV commentator. Lowndes is a three-time V8 Su ...

, (who had won four rounds) due to consistent high points finishes in all twelve of the previous 2006 rounds. Coming into the third and final race of the round, Lowndes had managed to pull back the deficit to be even on points with Kelly, meaning that the driver out of the two who finished first would clinch the championship. Two laps into the final race, Kelly collided with Lowndes, who then slid into

. Damage to Lowndes’s car resulted in him finishing 29th, whereas Rick Kelly finished 18th and was awarded the series title despite not having won a single round.

Charitable work

Kelly has joined other publicly known figures in support of the "Oscar's Law" campaign, a protest against the factory farming of companion animals. The campaign is named after a neglected dog found in

central Victoria North Central Victoria is a rural region in the Australian state of Victoria. The region lies to the south of the Victorian/New South Wales border as defined by the Murray River, to the southwest of the Hume region, to the west of the Great D ...

, Australia, and was launched in 2010. The list of supporters includes singers

Kate Ceberano Catherine Yvette Ceberano ( or , born 17 November 1966) is an Australian singer and actress who performs in the soul, jazz, and pop genres, as well as in film and musicals such as ''Jesus Christ Superstar''. Her song "Pash" received a gold sa ...

Jon Stevens Jon Stevens (born 8 October 1961) is a New Zealand singer, best known for his work with Noiseworks and ''Jesus Christ Superstar''. Biography 1980–1986: career beginnings and ''Jezebel'' Stevens was born in Upper Hutt, New Zealand, and is ...

, and Sia. Kelly not only appears on the campaign's website, but he has also promoted the campaign on his

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account. File:Holden VE Commodore of Rick Kelly 2012.JPG, Kelly placed 14th in the 2012 V8 Supercars Championship driving a

Holden VE Commodore The Holden Commodore (VE) is an executive car that was produced by Holden from 2006 to 2013. It was the first iteration of the fourth generation of the Holden Commodore, Commodore. Its range included the luxury variants, Holden Berlina (VE) and ...

File:Nissan L33 Altima of Rick Kelly 2013.JPG, Kelly placed 14th in the 2013 V8 Supercars Championship driving a Nissan L33 Altima File:Nissan L33 Altima of Rick Kelly 2014.JPG, Kelly placed 13th in the 2014 V8 Supercars Championship driving a Nissan L33 Altima File:Nissan Altima of Rick Kelly (2017).JPG, Kelly placed 14th in the

2017 Supercars Championship The 2017 Supercars Championship (formally known as the 2017 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship) was an FIA-sanctioned international motor racing series for Supercars, which prior to July 2016 had been known as V8 Supercars. It was the ninet ...

driving a Nissan L33 Altima File:Nissan Altima of Rick Kelly (Adelaide, 2018).jpg, Kelly placed 8th in the

2018 Supercars Championship The 2018 Supercars Championship (known for commercial reasons as the 2018 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship) was an FIA-sanctioned international motor racing series for Supercars. It was the twentieth running of the Supercars Championship a ...

driving a Nissan L33 Altima

Career results

Career summary

Supercars Championship results

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

References

External links

Official Rick Kelly Website

Rick Kelly Nissan Motorsport Profile

Rick Kelly V8 Supercars Official ProfileDriver Database profileProfile on Racing Reference
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Rick 1983 births Bathurst 1000 winners Formula Ford drivers Formula Holden drivers Living people People from Mildura Racing drivers from Victoria (Australia) Supercars Championship drivers R-Motorsport drivers Kelly Racing drivers Nismo drivers Aston Martin Racing drivers