KEY POINTS:
Bathurst winner Todd Kelly has elected to postpone the debut of a new race car following the successful test of his revamped Jack Daniel's Racing Holden V8 at Winton in Australia last week.
Kelly was expected to introduce the latest Perkins-built VE Commodore, at this weekend's inaugural street race in Hamilton.
But team owner Larry Perkins, disappointed with recent performances in Sydney and the Australian grand prix in Melbourne, ordered a review of the current cars.
"Our results weren't what we wanted and I accepted that we needed to find out why; we needed to rectify the situation rather than debut the new car," Perkins said.
The team were able to recognise a number of deficiencies in the front and rear suspension, areas overlooked last season while getting rookies Shane Price and Jack Perkins up to speed.
"With Todd's experience to draw on, we've been able to identify the shortcomings and make the necessary changes," he said.
Kelly, 28, said the improvements were noticeable.
"Our test was very good; my car is now more responsive and feeling the way I like it - and that has to be better."
With the re-engineered car, he was feeling more confident heading to Hamilton.
A decision on when the team would roll out the new chassis would be made after the New Zealand race, but a Perth debut was likely.
"We'll know where we're at after this weekend; we're still undecided, but if New Zealand turns out good then we'll most likely have the new car ready for Perth."
Practice for the Hamilton 400 begins this Friday, with three practice sessions available for drivers to become accustomed to the new circuit - two 30 minutes long, the last 75 minutes.
Qualifying begins on Saturday morning, then the first of the three 36 lap races comprising the round follows that afternoon at 4.15pm.
The other two races will be run on Sunday.
- NZPA
