Kelly: The suspense is killing me!

Todd Kelly admits he can't wait for the new V8 Supercar Championship season to start as he prepares for his first year with the Jack Daniels Racing team.

Kelly switches to the Larry Perkins-run team from the works HRT outfit for the season ahead and will team up with youngster Shane Price for the coming campaign.

On the back of last weeks test at Winton, where he posted the eighth quickest time, the 28-year-old admitted that team is confident for the year ahead and said he couldn't wait to hit the track for this weekends Clipsal 500 in Adelaide.

"Since Christmas we've spent every moment working as hard as we can to make sure we do the best possible job in Adelaide, so we used Winton to test the components we've been designing to make the car better," he said. "There was obviously pressure on us all [at Winton]. I felt the expectations as the new driver, but we preferred to work through our testing program rather than trying for outright times. We didn't put any new tyres on to go faster, but I think everyone was comfortable with where we were at.

"The workload's been high, but the team has been fantastic. I'm comfortable in the car and everything's coming together. There's still work to do and I'm sure Adelaide will be tough - it's the toughest race of the year - but when you're under the pressure of a race weekend then you learn faster.

"All the hard work's been done; we just need to see where that puts us. I really don't know where, but we'll have an idea during Friday's practice. I can't wait, the suspense is killing me."

With a year in the V8 'main game' under his belt and now Kelly's experience to learn from, 21-year-old Price is looking for a leap up the points table in 2008.

"For me, I'd be disappointed if I wasn't in the top 15 and pushing into the top ten - and that's just for a start," he said. "Todd's going to be great help for my development as a driver and if I can take something from his advice and combine it with what I've already learned then achieving my goals is possible.

"Adelaide's the hardest race of the year and with just one test we're all probably heading in a little rusty, but I'm really looking forward to it, I know what to expect; I know how aggressive everyone is, and I now know how to treat them back. The aggression took me by surprise last year, it's the most aggressive and competitive category I've ever raced in, but Adelaide's a place where it can bite you on the backside.

"I'll try to be level-headed about the whole deal."