Qualifying day for The Bend 500 has decidedly not gone the way of PremiAir Racing, with the team struggling with steering and balance issues on the #62 and #31 PremiAir Racing Camaros respectively, leaving them to start tomorrow’s 500km race from 19th and 22nd on the grid.
The team’s time on track today kicked off with a co-drivers only Practice Four, with Nash Morris laying down the 18th quickest time in the #62 he is sharing with Richie Stanaway, while David Russell was 19th quickest in Jimmy Golding’s #31.
The fifth and final practice session of the weekend soon followed, and while it was an all-drivers session, the team took the opportunity to have main drivers Golding and Stanaway at the wheel for the entirety in preparation for the upcoming qualifying.
It was in this session that steering issues that had niggled the #62 in P4 became a real problem, with the car pulling to the side during braking.
Stanaway would end up stuck in the garage for quite some time while the crew chased a dislodged grub screw in the steering column, returning to the track with 20 minutes on the clock and managing a lap time that was 15th on the timing totem.
The #31 meanwhile had been struggling with balance all day and this continued for Golding in P5, seeing him ultimately log the 25th quickest time amidst a raft of set-up changes.
After P5 the team took the extra steps of replacing the steering rack completely in the #62, but unfortunately, those steering issues would continue to undermine Stanaway’s attempts at qualifying, seeing him finish out the session in P19. Golding meanwhile continued to struggle with balance in the #31 despite the team working through a number of potential fixes in both P5 and before and during the qualifying session, finishing out the session in P22.
While definitely not where the team wanted to be heading into Sunday’s enduro, 500km on the docket allows plenty of time for a fight back, and the team is wholly dedicated to turning today’s results around come race day – which will kick off with a warm-up at 9.30am followed by the race start at 1.45pm – all times local. For full event information and schedules, go to www.supercars.com
QUOTEBOARD: THE BEND 500, SATURDAY 13 SEPTEMBER 2025
Ludo Lacroix – Competition Director, PremiAir Racing
“That’s not where we wanted to be today. Yesterday, we thought we had something with Richie, but unfortunately we struck a steering issue. We changed the rack after Practice 5, as we were already chasing the problem in Practice 4, but it’s not entirely resolved yet, so there’s still more to understand. The car isn’t braking straight and is pulling a little, which really hurts Richie’s confidence in braking — and around here, you need to be braking late. That didn’t help him, which is a shame, because I felt he had the pace for a Top Ten.
On the #31 side, we’ve been chasing balance all weekend but haven’t quite found the sweet spot yet. The car is okay over a run in terms of tyre life and balance, but on that ultimate one-lap pace, we just don’t have what we need. So it’s disappointing to be where we are heading into such a big 500km, 300-point race. Tomorrow, we’ll need to be sharp with our strategy and make sure we position both cars well for those final two stints, which will be crucial with the main drivers in the car.”
Jimmy Golding – #31 PremiAir Racing Camaro
“It wasn’t like we had hoped today. We tried a lot of different things through all the practice sessions; nothing is really giving us clear direction. We think the last change we made for qualifying was a lot better but we have kind of changed the car enough that we probably haven’t balanced the rest around that change we made; I think it is definitely heading in the right direction but we are a long way into the weekend now so it is hard to capitalise on it and get it right in qualifying. All we can do now is focus on the race, we know it is a long race and anything can happen. There are a lot of highlight reels from endurance races so I am sure this one will be no different, so as long as we are on the right end of the highlights we will be good.”
David Russell – co-driver, #31 PremiAir Racing Camaro
“My Supercars session this morning went well. These enduros are all about making the most of the limited laps co-drivers get, and there’s a lot to work through – dashboards, pit entry and release, driver changes – it all comes quickly. My runs were solid, but as a team we still need to unlock that next step in performance. We’ve tried different tyres and setup phases, but haven’t quite hit the sweet spot to be pushing for top fives or tens yet.
Tomorrow’s 500km is a big opportunity. I said to Jimmy, we were in a similar position at Sandown last year, started in the teens, and just knuckled down to move forward. That’s the mindset again – stay clean, execute well, and keep grinding through the stints. My goal is to hand the car over to Jimmy having made up as many spots as possible.”
Richie Stanaway – #62 PremiAir Racing Camaro
“Yeah, it’s been a pretty tough day for us here at The Bend. We’ve been chasing a mechanical gremlin since the end of Practice 4, and unfortunately, we just haven’t been able to get on top of it today. It’s definitely hindered our pace and made things harder than they should have been. From what we can tell, it looks to be an issue with the steering, and potentially the brakes as well, so it hasn’t been the smoothest run.
That said, the crew has been working flat out to diagnose it, and we’ll throw everything at getting it fixed overnight. The good thing is tomorrow is a 500km race, which gives us plenty of time and opportunity to fight forward. If we can get on top of this, I’m confident we can show a much stronger pace and push up the order.”
Nash Morris – co-driver, #62 PremiAir Racing Camaro
“We had another solo session in Practice 4, which went well. I got through a race run and a couple of shorter runs, so it was good to bank those laps. The focus is still very much on getting a strong result in the race.
Qualifying was a bit tough for Richie and the whole team, and with the steering issues, it hasn’t been the easiest day overall. But with 500km ahead of us tomorrow, there’s plenty of track time to turn it around. We’re all eyes forward and ready to dig deep to get the best result we can.”
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