Michael Caruso secures 10th for Nissan in 2014 V8 Supercars Championship

Sydney, Sydney Olympic Park (December 6-7, 2014) - Nissan Motorsport driver Michael Caruso has wrapped up 10th place in the V8 Supercars Championship after a dramatic day at the final round of this season's Australian V8 Supercars, Sydney NRMA 500 on the streets of Sydney Olympic Park.

Caruso finished Race 37 in 8th place, but retired from Sunday's race after six laps when an engine drama ruled him out. Caruso was fighting as many as four other drivers for the coveted 10th place, and just scraped through by 19 points over Jason Bright.

Rick Kelly continued his strong end of season form, claiming a 5th place in the opening race of the weekend. After qualifying seventh, the #15 Jack Daniel's Nissan Altima used strong car pace to pull itself up the order, and held strong right up to the checkered flag despite heavy pressure from Shane van Gisbergen.

Rick Kelly was one of those drivers fighting for 10th, and his seventh place finish in Race 38 put him in a good position to do so, but after the race was abandoned due to wet weather, Rick ended up finishing 13th in the title chase.

Kelly's brother Todd Kelly finished Race 38 in 14th place, a great drive having started from the back of the field.

For Norton driver James Moffat, it was a weekend that could have brought more. After he finished in Saturday's races in 14th and 17th respectively, he started Sunday's race well by running with a wet set-up, but slipped back when the weather dried up. He has ended in 15th and 16th in the series standings.

In the Team's Championship, the Norton Hornets finished 5th overall, while the Jack Daniel's Racing team finished 8th.

The next time the V8 Supercars will be on track will be at the two-day pre-season test at Sydney Motorsport Park on February 7-8, 2015.

QUOTES:

Michael Caruso, #36 Norton Nissan Altima
"It's terrific that we were able to hold onto 10th place in the championship. I thought we had no chance after our engine problem, but it seems like the points gods were looking down kindly on me. We certainly don't aim to finish 10th in any championship - we are always aiming to win - but given the development curve that Nissan Motorsport has been on over the past two years, this is a nice reward for the team."

Rick Kelly, #15 Jack Daniel's Nissan Altima
"It was a fun race. I've got really mixed emotions now that it's all over, finishing inside the top-ten is great, but disappointed that I didn't finish further up in the points standings. There is something like 12 points to 11th and 30 points to 10th. So you count back through the year and all of the times you could have made that up, it shows just how close the championship really is. I'm stoked to have finished with a couple of top-ten results this weekend, and I can't wait for next year."

Todd Kelly, #7 Jack Daniel's Nissan Altima
"It was a bit of a rough start to the [race on] Sunday, not being able to get a lap in during qualifying with a bit of a brake problem. So for the last race of the year we started dead last, which wasn't ideal, but we pushed on as hard as we could and moved forward as best we could. We were sitting in 14th at the end, it's just a shame it rained that hard, because when it started to rain it was fairly wet, and we were able to make up some positions. "

James Moffat, #360 Norton Nissan Altima
"The rain will go down as the talking point of this year's Sydney race, considering the conditions we've had on both days here. In situations like that, it's a matter of trying to survive and just run around. It's a little disappointing to finish the year off like that. We'll keep working hard over the off-season to come back bigger and stronger.

• 2014 V8 Supercars Championship Race 36– 37 laps (December 6)
• 2014 V8 Supercars Championship Race 37– 37 laps (December 6)
• 2014 V8 Supercars Championship Race 38–74 laps (December 7)

<Related Link>
NISSAN MOTORSPORTS Web Site

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