IN the 15 years which have passed since Rick Kelly last won the Bathurst 1000, plenty has changed for the Mildura native.
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He’s since been crowned a Supercars champion, he now runs his own team and instead of racing a Holden Commodore, steers a Nissan Altima.
This year will be his 18th start in the Bathurst 1000, but that’s not the number he’s concerned with.
Kelly is thinking about number one, trying to emulate the success he found in 2003 and 2004 when he and Greg Murphy claimed the chequered flag at Mount Panorama.
“It doesn’t feel like that long ago [I last won], but it’s just one of those things, I don't even know how many Bathurst starts I’ve done,” Kelly said.
“It’s not something that we count, we just get there every time and try and win it again.
“The last few years have definitely been more challenging at Bathurst, with the pace we’ve had at the Mount Panorama circuit in particular it has been tough.
“We go to tracks like Winton and Darwin where we’re very competitive, there are characteristics of those tracks which suit us, but we go to a place like Bathurst and there are definitely some challenges.
“But this will probably be the most competitive we’ve been there and we’re keen to take advantage of that.”
Aside from building on a solid season – he’s seventh in the championship – when he and co-driver Garry Jacobson line up on the grid, Kelly has another goal.
He now wants to enjoy the Bathurst 1000 event on a different level, another of the changes which Kelly has undergone since his Great Race debut in 2001.
“Meeting some of the locals and hearing their stories, seeing the changes in the town and track and the infrastructure, that's a big thing now,” he said.
“You tend to just roll from one weekend to the next and not take it in and not enjoy it all the time.
“So this year is about getting there, taking it in a bit more and trying to enjoy the whole event.
“For me, I’ve only ever enjoyed it one way and that’s in the race car and then in the truck looking at data and couple of appearances around town.”
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