Kelly's championship hopes take a beating.

The Holden Racing Team was possibly denied a 1-2 finish after a jammed gear lever forced second driver Todd Kelly to surrender six laps for repairs.

As team leader Mark Skaife cruised to the race win in the opener for the Perth V8 400 at Barbagallo Raceway, Kelly was forced to pit in order to mend the stuck gear lever on lap five - surrendering second position in the process. Despite this, Kelly went on to set the fastest lap of the race, and is well placed for a strong finish tomorrow - with a front row start in the reverse-grid race putting him in the box seat for a win on Sunday morning at least.

"It was a shame (to finish in last placing) because I was just cruising around at the start and the car was fast," said Kelly.

"I was in no particular panic to press on but the car was as quick as anyone else out there so it's a shame to be dead last."

"We need to go out and hopefully win the reverse grid race tomorrow, at least we'll get half the points we would have gotten for winning today. We're ahead of where we were in New Zealand last time because we were starting from last in the reverse grid race there!

"The car is good so all we can do is press on as hard as we can and I'll end up mid- to late-field for the third race."

Unfortunately for Kelly, a horror run in New Zealand has effectively forced him to finish every single round well in order to keep his championship hopes alive. It is therefore essential that the 2005 Bathurst winner finishes at the front for the remaining two races on Sunday.

"I said to people before the race that we've used our lifeline in New Zealand and we can't afford another bad round, and then this happens," said Kelly.

"It's knocked the championship around, no question. It's still early but it's almost at the point where we need to change our strategy and just go out and try to win races rather than racing for the championship. We'll have a bit of a chat about it when we get home."

The reverse-grid race will take place tomorrow morning ahead of the final 120 kilometre event later in the afternoon.