Todd and Rick Kelly in 2012
Rick and Todd Kelly said goodbye to the Repco Supercars Championship on Monday after their family team officially moved to Grove Racing.
The Kelly name has been on the Supercars grid since Todd’s Bathurst 1000 debut in 1998.
Seven years later he won the Great Race for the Holden Racing Team after his younger brother Rick celebrated successive triumphs in 2003 and 2004.
Rick then won the championship in 2006 before the couple pioneered the owner-driver path with the creation of Kelly Racing in 2009.
The squad took a notable win with Holden, Nissan and Ford, but will start a new chapter next year with the Grove family taking 100 percent ownership.
The brothers sat down for one final video for the fans on the occasion – a rare public appearance for Rick since he retired from driving at the end of last season.
“I remember when we started this place in 2009, in late 2008; We worked around the clock in the run-up to our first race and decided that we wanted to do everything ourselves and do it our own way, ”recalls Todd.
“Looking back, we could have done a lot differently – we could have been a customer team and probably not change manufacturers that often, but that’s how we roll, that’s what we wanted to do.
“We did a lot of work and there is a lot of technology behind us [at the Braeside workshop] and back to show for it, so I certainly don’t regret how we approached it and what we’ve achieved with all the cars we’ve built and all the drivers we’ve had on the team, all the sponsors.
“We’ve had an incredible number of really great partners in all of this time, and we’ve built some great friendships with some great people.
“We had about 210 people here at Kelly Racing so it was pretty hard work like motorsport for many years – a few ups, but mostly downs; you never have a good day on the road every day, but in retrospect it was a hell of a ride. “
Rick echoed these feelings of pride: “A lot of people say ‘what was your highlight’ and they expect it to be a result on the line, a first here or a third or whatever it is.
“But some of the biggest successes I think for both of us were things like the first race in Adelaide as our own team on the track because [Todd] and i worked here in this factory for a long time until one and two in the morning … it was a huge achievement for us to roll four cars onto the track and circulate at this event.
“In 2013 it was a bit similar” [for their first event running Nissan Altimas].
“Well, I think a lot happened about highlights for us that weren’t on the scoreboard as such, so it was pretty good.”
Both wished new owners Stephen and Brenton Grove the best for 2022 and beyond, even as Todd realizes it “will be hard to watch from the sidelines after living and breathing supercars and motorsport for so many years”.
“All the best to Brenton, Stephen and the whole Grove family for what they are about to enter,” added Todd.
“They are really serious about what they want to do with this place and it’s great that we were able to find someone to continue this team and lead the staff and all of our sponsors into the future so thank you guys and all the best for the future.”
David Reynolds and Lee Holdsworth will ride for the team in 2022 as David Cauchi joins the team as team principal.