New Look HSV Dealer Team For 2008
The HSV Dealer Team has a new look and a new name on the side of the car Rick Kelly will drive in his quest to win back the V8 Supercar Championship in 2008.
Opes Prime joins the team who have won the last two V8 titles, with a new livery unveiled today for the #15 car at the Dealer Team’s Clayton Headquarters.
According to Rick Kelly there is plenty of motivation for the team this year – including the possibility of taking out a ‘hat-trick’ of titles for the HSV Dealer Team.
“I’m very excited about this season and the opportunities and challenges it will provide me with,” Rick Kelly said.
“I have a new team mate and new engineers which I have already developed strong relationships with.
“All of these new team members bring with them a wealth of experience, are extremely passionate about our goals and will play a key role in our 2008 V8 Supercar Championship campaign,” he said.
Kelly said he was confident new Team Manager Erik Pender, engineer Alistair McVean and the rest of the crew would have the Dealer Team car in great shape for the Clipsal 500 in just a few weeks time.
“We will have good consistency with running the same chassis at the start of the year, which should help us hit the ground running at Clipsal,” he said.
The livery for the Dealer Team car has a fresh new look with large swathes of silver alongside the traditional black and orange that has been a hallmark of HSV Dealer Team cars in previous campaigns.
The HSV Dealer Team also announced today that Paul Radisich would return to the line-up in 2008 to compete in the V8 Supercar endurance events at Phillip Island and Bathurst.
“Having driven with Paul last year to finish second at Sandown 500 it’s reassuring to know I’ll have a really strong co-pilot for the endurance events,” Rick Kelly said.
A new partner, Opes Prime, has also signed on with the reigning champions and are looking forward to being a part of the back-to-back V8 champion team.
The Executive Director of Opes Prime, Anthony Blumberg, was on hand at Clayton today for the unveil.
“I am proud to be associated with a winning team and 2006 Champion, Rick Kelly, in our first venture into the V8 Supercar Championship Series. Like the HSV Dealer Team, Opes Prime is a young venture with a winning team that aspires to achieve success over our opponents in our field of expertise,” Anthony Blumberg said.
“It was a natural progression for us to advance into the V8 Supercar ‘main game’ after our association with Marcus Zukanovic in the Fujitsu Series last year, which exposed the Opes Prime brand to the Australian public.”
“We will continue to be associated with the Zukanovic team in 2008 and beyond as Marcus prepares to defend Holden’s 2007 victory in the Fujitsu Series,” he said.
