CHELSEA ANGELO LOCKS IN KELLY RACING TCR OPEL DRIVE

PRESS RELEASE/TCR Australia – Photo: Velocity Magazine (John Morris)

Chelsea Angelo has secured a deal with Kelly Racing to contest the inaugural TCR Australia Series in an Opel Astra.

Angelo, 22, will drive the #37 Astra amongst a four-car strong Kelly Racing TCR outfit. Alex Rullo will drive the other KR-prepared Astra entry, while Molly Taylor will drive one of the Subaru WRXs.

The driver of the second Subaru entry will be announced this week ahead of the opening day of practice on Friday.

The announcement makes Angelo the third female driver to confirm her place on the TCR Australia grid alongside Taylor (Subaru) and Alexandra Whitley (Volkswagen).

It also secures the 14th driver on the grid for the historic Sydney Motorsport Park TCR opener. 

Angelo is one of Australian motorsport’s most experienced female racers, having cut her teeth through the ranks in Formula Ford, Super2 Supercars and Porsche racing.

Angelo was at the recent Winton TCR test, sampling one of KR’s Subarus before finalising her deal.

The first round of the TCR Australia Series starts at Sydney Motorsport Park next weekend, held alongside the Shannons Nationals Championships. CLICK HERE to secure tickets to the race meeting.

Every round will be broadcast live, free and HD broadcast coverage on SBS. Saturday’s race (May 18) will be shown from 2-3pm, while Sunday’s two races (May 19) will have a two hour broadcast from 1-3pm.

The event will also be live streamed across the day and will be available on the TCR Australia website.

Chelsea Angelo Driver, Kelly Racing Opel Astra

“It’s incredible to confirm that I will race in TCR this year,” said Chelsea Angelo. 

“I wasn’t sure what my racing options were at the start of the season, but when I saw that TCR was coming here, I always felt that it was a great category for myself. 

“There’s a lot of ex-Supercars drivers in there, plus Porsche drivers, rally car drivers, a few females. It’s a real mixed bag.

“I’ve never raced a front wheel drive car before and I’ll be trying to get my head around it as fast as I can. It will be interesting. When I tested at Winton last week, one of the things I found tricky was trying to get the temperature of the rear tyres up. I’ve been speaking to a lot of people to learn as much as I can before we get to Sydney.

“I’m confident of getting my head around it all, but I love a challenge. I’m excited. I have absolutely no expectations, so it’s nice to go there with an open mind set. 

“TCR is a great category. It’s known world wide and it can open up doors to overseas racing, so to be able to bring that here is a great thing. And it will be an even playing field. I’m excited and can’t wait to get my bum back in seat.” 

Todd Kelly Owner, Kelly Racing

“We have been speaking with Chelsea for some time and it’s great to have her locked in with our team,” said Todd Kelly.

“Chelsea is still very young, but she has been racing at the top level of Australia’s national categories for some time. We have been keeping an eye on her so it’s great to see here progress her career into TCR with us.

“The Opel performed extremely well at the test and we really feel that it is going to be a strong contender in the series with Alex and Chelsea as the drivers.”

CONFIRMED TEAMS & DRIVERS FOR ROUND 1, SMSP

CAR NUMBER	TEAM	NOMINATED DRIVER	STATE	VEHICLE	CAR MODEL
6	Kelly Racing	Molly Taylor	NSW	Subaru	WRX STI
7	Garry Rogers Motorsport	Jimmy Vernon	NSW	Alfa Romeo	Giulietta Veloce
8	Alliance Autosport	Jason Bright	VIC	Volkswagen	Golf GTI
9	Ashley Seward Motorsport	Dylan O’Keeffe	VIC	Alfa Romeo	Giulietta Veloce
11	HMO Customer Racing	Nathan Morcom	NSW	Hyundai	I30N
22	Melbourne Performance	Rik Breukers	NED	Audi	RS 3
24	Wall Racing	John Martin	NSW	Honda	Civic Type R
30	HMO Customer Racing	Will Brown	QLD	Hyundai	I30N
33	Garry Rogers Motorsport	Chris Pither	NZ	Renault	Magane RS
34	Garry Rogers Motorsport	James Moffat	VIC	Renault	Magane RS
35	Alliance Autosport	Alexandra Whitley	QLD	Volkswagen	Golf GTI
37	Kelly Racing	Chelsea Angelo	VIC	Opel	Astra
50	Wall Racing	Tony D’Alberto	VIC	Honda	Civic Type R
62	Kelly Racing	Alex Rullo	WA	Opel	Astra
TBA	Kelly Racing	TBA	TBA	Subaru	WRX STI

 

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