RICK Kelly hopes getting behind the wheel of a Larry Perkins-inspired Nissan throwback will propel him to break a 14-year Bathurst 1000 drought this weekend.

The Supercars return to Mount Panorama for the iconic race with Kelly emerging as a genuine chance for victory after announcing he would take on the might of Holden and Ford in a Perkins-themed Castrol Nissan Altima dedicated to the V8 legend.

Two-time Bathurst champion Kelly is confident he can finally conquer the mountain in a Nissan, claiming he has his fastest Altima since making the switch from Holden in 2013.

“It has been a very good year for us,’’ Kelly said.

“We have had a win, three or four podiums and a pole position. Obviously our form is greatly improved over the last couple of years and heading to Bathurst this year we are carrying the best form we have had in a Nissan so far.

“Our expectations are high but right now we are trying to keep that out of our mind and use the great car we have behind us to try and get the job done on Sunday.’’

Kelly last took the Bathurst chequered flag with Greg Murphy back in 2004 in a Holden Commodore. This weekend he will be out to relive that glory in a car decked out in the colours that Perkins carried to three of his six Bathurst 1000 wins.

“It is a very special time for us to have the car in the 1993 to 1997 Castrol livery of Larry Perkins,’’ Kelly said.

“It makes a very special event even more special.’’

Kelly will unveil his Perkins-themed livery on his Altima when practice begins on Thursday at Mount Panorama.

“This is a race I have watched since I could walk and it is very hard to come up here and not be tense,’’ Kelly said.

“Keeping relaxed is very difficult and to do a good job isn’t easy. This event means so much to me and all the other drivers in pit lane.’’

It will be Kelly’s last shot to conquer the mountain in an Altima with the V8 veteran expected to switch back to Holden next year after Nissan quits the sport.

And Kelly and his stablemates are expected to be in the fight thanks to an improved engine that will give them the horsepower to compete with Holden and Ford on high speed sections like the infamous Conrod Straight.

“We will be quickly hitting the track with this great looking car,’’ Kelly said.

“And it will be all business. We will be out to see what we can achieve.’’

TEN BATHURST 1000 FAST FACTS
1. This year is the 58th running of the event now known as the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000. First held at Bathurst in 1963 as the Armstrong 500, ‘The Great Race’ has featured at Mount Panorama ever since. It should be noted too that there were two races held in 1997 and 1998, one for V8 Supercars and one for two-litre Super Tourers. Both are counted in race history books.

2. The most popular grid position for winners of the Bathurst race is a tie between the two front-row grid positions. The pole-sitting car has won the race a total of 11 times, while cars starting second - including last year’s winners David Reynolds and Luke Youlden - have also won on 11 different occasions. The last time the pole-sitting car went on to win the race was 2009 with Garth Tander and Will Davison for the Holden Racing Team.

3. This year marks the 45th and final Bathurst 1000 for Ford’s Falcon nameplate before the return of Mustang in 2019. The Falcon made its Bathurst enduro debut in 1967 and won first time out with the late Harry Firth and Fred Gibson aboard a factory-entered XR GT. Falcon has given Ford 14 of its 19 wins in the Bathurst classic, the most recent in 2014 with Chaz Mostert and Paul Morris.

4. The closest Bathurst race finish between competing cars (as opposed to teammates lining up for a form finish) is 0.1434-seconds in 2016 between Will Davison and Shane van Gisbergen.

5. The most experienced Bathurst 1000 driver in the 2018 field is Steve Richards, who will co-drive the Autobarn Lowndes Racing Commodore with Craig Lowndes and make his 26th Bathurst 1000 start. Just five drivers have more starts than the four-time winner in ‘The Great Race’ - Steve’s father Jim Richards, the late Peter Brock, Colin Bond, Bruce Stewart and Bob Holden.

6. There are four Bathurst 1000 rookies in this year’s field but none are rookies at the Mount Panorama circuit. Kiwi Earl Bamber has been a class winner in the Bathurst 12 Hour while Anton de Pasquale, Will Brown and Bryce Fullwood all have competed there in the Dunlop Super2 Series.

7. There are 14 former winners of the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 in this year’s field of 52 drivers who will pilot the 26 cars entered. There are 12 other drivers in this year’s field that have finished on the Bathurst podium before but not won the race.

8. This year’s Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 is Garry Rogers Motorsport’s 700th Supercars Championship race. The team won the race in 2000 with Garth Tander and Jason Bargwanna driving and last scored a podium finish at Mount Panorama in 2009 with Lee Holdsworth and Michael Caruso.

9. The most number of Safety Car periods in a Bathurst 1000 is 13 in the 2000 race. The most number of laps affected by the Safety Car is 48 of the 161 laps in the 2006 race.

10. The record for the most number of cars on the lead lap at the end of the Bathurst 1000 is 19 in 2010 2011, 2012 and 2013. Last year there were 10 cars on the lead lap at the end of the rain-affected race with 20 of the 26 starters classified as finishers.