BEST BATHURST 1000 RESULT YET WITH P6

PremiAir Nulon Racing has raced through for P6 at the 2024 Bathurst 1000 with the #31 PremiAir Nulon Racing Camaro of Jimmy Golding and co-driver David Russell – a significant improvement over the team’s previous best Great Race result of P10 (2023). 

It was the fastest Bathurst 1000 of all time, concluded in just five hours, 58 minutes and three seconds with the race running without a safety car for the first 132 laps and the green flag running interrupted only once when a safety car was required to retrieve a stranded Matt Payne – remarkably the only DNF for today’s outing. 

The #31 had started the race in P11 with Jimmy Golding at the wheel after narrowly missing out on the top ten shootout, with Golding advancing quickly up to P7 by the end of the first lap. 

From there Golding and Russell traded the driving seat while holding their position relatively steady across the majority of the race, running as high as P5 despite losing a little more time across a couple of their stops than they would have liked due to some fuel flow gremlins. 

At the time of the restart with 27 laps remaining (lap 134), Golding was P9 and fuelled to the end, quickly moving his way up to P7 over the next few laps before taking advantage of a duelling Stanaway and Mostert at the end of lap 139 to move into P7 behind Stanaway. 

From there, he took a number of looks at the Grove Racing driver before eventually getting the move done in the final laps to improve his best previous 1000 finishing result by four positions and gain enough points to move up to fifth in the Supercars’ Driver’s Championship (from sixth following the #31’s breakthrough Sandown 500 podium last month).  

The #23 PremiAir Nulon Racing Camaro of Tim Slade and Cameron McLeod meanwhile also put in a valiant effort across the 1000.

After starting from P25 on the grid following difficulties in qualifying, Slade and McLeod would advance six positions to P19 after running as high as P13 in a strong effort amidst what was an incredibly competitive field, and one which may have yielded a slightly better finishing result if not for a cross-threaded wheel nut in the final pit stop.

While the fuel flow and wheel nut issues were unwelcome in the pit lane, the team well and truly matched their drivers in putting in a fantastic and dedicated effort to deliver the quickest stops they could despite these hurdles to get the PremiAir Nulon Racing Camaros back out on track in the shortest possible time each and every time. 

PremiAir Nulon Racing will next be on-track with the Supercars Championship at its home race, the Gold Coast 600. The Arundel-based outfit will join its Supercars rivals on the streets of Surfers Paradise across October 25-27. For event information, visit www.supercars.com.au 

QUOTEBOARD: BATHURST 1000 – SUNDAY 13 OCTOBER 2024

Peter Xiberras – Team Owner, PremiAir Nulon Racing 

“You never know what you are going to get with the Bathurst 1000 and with how the opening days unfolded, I never would have predicted 132 laps of green flag running, that is for sure! The team and all of our drivers did a really solid job across what was an intense race – while this is an enduro, it is raced like a long sprint these days and they all did great to focus and do what they needed to do across the almost six hours of running time. We are happy to improve our previous Bathurst 1000 PB with P6 for the #31 for Jimmy and D-Russ, although I am disappointed for Tim in his last Bathurst 1000 as a full-time driver that it didn’t come together for him and Camy, but they did a really solid job all the same with what they had. Thanks also to the entire team for their hard work and dedication, so much goes into preparing for today and no one let up for a second in making sure we were chasing the best result we could on the day.” 

Jimmy Golding – #31 PremiAir Nulon Racing Camaro

“We did it the hard way today with a few dramas with fuel flow which saw us spend a bit more time in pit lane than we wanted to, but we managed to get back up to P6 in the end which is awesome, and it gives us some really good championship points also, seeing us now sitting P5 in the championship. I am really excited now to get to the Gold Coast race and see how we can go there.” 

David Russell – co-driver, #31 PremiAir Nulon Racing Camaro

“Jimmy did a great job; he was really solid across the whole weekend. It was a difficult first stint for me having to try and dial in bias and manage the car on a full tank with the track conditions, especially as we didn’t have much of a warm-up and then when we went out, it was completely different for me. My second stint was really good and I was out there with some main drivers holding my own with them, which was good. We knew when we were fighting with them that we would be on for a solid top ten result and then Jimmy did a good job to get a few positions there at the end after the safety car. And it is really good to have two straight cars as the end of a weekend on a track that was so slippery we described it as a bit like a dog on lino earlier in the weekend!” 

Tim Slade – #23 PremiAir Nulon Racing Camaro

“Well done on P6 for Jimmy and D-Russ. It was P19 for me and Camy, which pretty much sums up where we were across the week. I have to say a big thank you to Camy, he did an amazing job and I couldn’t have asked for anything more from him. I had one decent stint where the car felt good and our pace was reasonable, but I am not sure why we couldn’t repeat that and we will obviously be looking into that. We head back to the workshop now and with Gold Coast in a couple of weeks it will be a quick turnaround, so it is good the team don’t have too much work to do repairing crashed cars. We are definitely looking forward to the home race.” 

Cameron McLeod – co-driver, #23 PremiAir Nulon Racing Camaro

“(My first Bathurst 1000) was very cool, and it was really good to keep it off the walls as well – that is one thing I was nervous about and plenty of people did it throughout the weekend, so I was happy to tick that box and I think the pace I had was there or thereabouts which was good enough for what the team needed, so I am happy. And to have two straight cars is a pretty big positive as well.” 

For more information on PremiAir Nulon Racing, please visit www.premiairracing.com or follow the team on its social media platforms at www.facebook.com/PremiAirRacing/, www.instagram.com/premiair_racing/, www.linkedin.com/company/premiairracing/ and www.twitter.com/premiairracing