Jack Daniel’s Racing pairing Todd and Rick Kelly are pleased with the improvement they found in practice for the L&H 500 at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Victoria today.

The brothers’ #7 Jack Daniel’s Racing Holden Commodore finished the day with the ninth fastest time on combined results, with the duo and Race Engineer David Swenson pleased with the speed found over the course of the day with various set-up work at the 4.446-kilometre circuit.

“We had a tough first session, we tried a few things and didn’t really make a lot of progress and then in the break we made a couple of significant changes on the Jack Daniel’s Commodore and it went like a jet from the start of the second part of practice,” said Rick Kelly.

Endurance specialists Nathan Pretty and Ben Collins were 18th fastest on combined times aboard the #15 Jack Daniel’s Racing Holden Commodore, an encouraging start for the pair.

British driver Collins compared the fast and flowing Phillip Island layout to the Thruxton and Oulton Park circuits in his homeland, while Pretty used today’s practice to reacquaint himself with V8 Supercar competition.

“Phillip Island is a fantastic circuit, a mixture of two tracks we have back home, Thruxton, which is fast, and Oulton Park, which has a lot of the gradient changes,” said Collins (AKA the Stig?) .

“So it’s great fun and I really enjoy it. It also looks like a very good track for racing and there’s lots of places where you can potentially pass but whether that’s the case or not, we will see on Saturday.”

Tomorrow will see separate practice, qualifying and qualifying heat races for each driver to determine the starting grid for Sunday’s L&H 500.

“We are getting miles under our belt,” said Nathan Pretty.

“It’s been 12 months since I have been here. Ben hasn’t even been here yet so it’s a matter of getting comfortable with the car again and getting back in the groove.

Mark Winterbottom set the fastest time in practice today ahead of Jamie Whincup and the Brad Jones Racing Commodore of Jason Richards and Cameron McConville.

RESULTS: Combined Friday Practice
1. #6 M.Winterbottom/S.Richards1:33.7901
2. #888 C.Lowndes/J.Whincup 1:33.8128
3. #8 C.McConville/J.Richards 1:33.9456
4. #25 J.Bright/K.Reindler 1:34.0502
5. #22 C.Baird/P.Dumbrell 1:34.0747
6. #111 F.Coulthard/M.Patriz1:34.0849
7. #9 A.Davison/S.Van Gisbergen 1:34.1021
8. #18 W.Luff/J.Webb 1:34.2492
9. #7 R.Kelly/T.Kelly 1:34.3062
10. #2 W.Davison/G.Tander 1:34.4020
15. #11 J.Perkins/D.Wood 1:34.8203
18. #15 B.Collins/N.Pretty 1:35.1090
24. #16 M.McNally/T.Ricciardello 1:35.7736

JACK DANIEL’S RACING DRIVERS AT PHILLIP ISLAND:

Rick Kelly – #7 Jack Daniel’s Racing Holden Commodore:

2008 Qualifying: Sixth
2008 Qualifying Race (A): FIRST
2008 Race: Seventh (with Paul Radisich)

Todd Kelly – #7 Jack Daniel’s Racing Holden Commodore:

2008 Qualifying: 25th
2008 Qualifying Race (A): 19th
2008 Race: 13th (with Shane Price)

Nathan Pretty – #15 Jack Daniel’s Racing Holden Commodore:

2008 Qualifying: 24th
2008 Qualifying Race (A): 21st
2008 Race: Eighth (with Jack Perkins)

Ben Collins – #15 Jack Daniel’s Racing Holden Commodore:

V8 Supercar debut at Phillip Island.

2009 V8 Supercar Championship Standings
Championship Points – After Race 16 of 26
1. Jamie Whincup 2007
2. Will Davison 1824
3. Garth Tander 1479
4. Craig Lowndes 1478
5. Steven Johnson 1374
6. Mark Winterbottom 1332
7. Lee Holdsworth 1269
8. Russell Ingall 1187
9. James Courtney 1154
10. Michael Caruso 1134
11. Rick Kelly 1133
18. Todd Kelly 892
26. Jack Perkins 534
30. Dale Wood 333
31. Mark McNally 156

L&H 500 DETAILS:

Circuit: Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit
Location: Phillip Island, Victoria
Circuit Length: 4.446 kilometres
Format: Two 14-lap qualifying races (Saturday – one per driver) and 113-lap race (Sunday – Both drivers)
2008 Qualifying Driver A Pole: Mark Winterbottom
2008 Qualifying Driver B Pole: Jamie Whincup
2008 Heat Race A Winner: Rick Kelly
2008 Heat Race B Winner: Jamie Whincup
2008 L&H 500 Winner: Garth Tander & Mark Skaife