Nulon Racing has locked away another top ten result this afternoon, with Tim Slade securing P7 in the #23 Nulon Racing Camaro while Jimmy Golding passed an incredible 10 cars to advance up the field in the #31 Nulon Racing entry.
Slade had started the race from P9 after making it through to the final stage of the three-stage ‘knock-out’ qualifying format for what was race seven of the Supercars Championship, and amidst an incredibly tight and competitive group of racers put in a strong performance aided by a great pit stop to move up to P7 by the end of the 42-lap race.
Golding started this afternoon’s first of three races for the Perth SuperSprint from 24th, despite his qualifying time being just four tenths of a second off pole position. A very small mistake in qualifying had seen him eliminated in the first stage of qualifying, but he and the team ensured they could tell a tale of redemption by delivering a fast and strategic race to finish P14.
“It was an exciting day,” Nulon Racing Team Principal, Matt Cook, said.
“Going back to the knock-out qualifying is always interesting and throws a spanner in the works, which it certainly did for us today.
“Jimmy got caught out unfortunately, making a minor mistake on his green trye run which hurt him and put him down the back. He was beating himself up a fair bit for it, but he raced really well. After starting second last, he worked his way through to 14th. To pass 10 cars in this category is hard on any day, let alone on a short track and with pit stops involved, where you always run the risk of going a lap down.
“We ran him long to gain position and then maintain that, and that gave him great tyres at the end to finish off the final part of his stint. We utilised the stop really well and he was very fast and picking them off one by one while keeping a controlled race and a level head. So, it was a great race by him, with good stops and good strategy by the team.
“Tim meanwhile was mega fast and solid and consistent all day. He was great in qualifying and was really fast in the race – to pass cars in the top ten is really hard to do, as all of those guys are really fast.
“Our team did a fantastic job in Tim’s stop, and he was able to hold them off at the end – we stopped him a little early to make use of what was going on around him. He was in a bit of a dog fight early, so we managed to stop him and get him into some clean air where he was able to look after his tyres all the way to the end, maintaining track position with the guys that were around him at the start. He did a fantastic job.
“Overall, we are really happy with today, it was a great job by all the team, and we look forward now to tomorrow!”
Slade said it was a relevantly uneventful race for him in the #23 Nulon Racing Camaro, but one that he was happy with.
“All in all, it was a pretty decent day for us,” Slade said.
“I was happy with qualifying. Yesterday in practice we might not have looked the best results-wise but with the whole field so close, I knew we weren’t miles away and it was a matter of finding a bit in me and a bit in the car, and so I was happy that it came together today in qualifying.
“It was a fairly uneventful race for us, I just really wanted to get a solid result in the bag that we can build on from here on in. I am really happy with today and hopefully we can have more of the same tomorrow.”
Golding was pleased at the turnaround of his Saturday in Perth in the #31 Nulon Racing entry.
“It was a pretty decent race today,” Golding said.
“Obviously we had a struggle in qualifying and started off the back, but the team did an awesome job. We had a good race car, good pit stops, and managed to come through 10 positions, passing a lot of cars out there.
“I really enjoyed the race – bring on tomorrow!”
Nulon Racing will be back on track at Wanneroo tomorrow (Sunday 30 April). The third and final day of the Perth SuperSprint will feature back-to-back qualifying sessions for races eight and nine from 9.15am local time, before the races get underway at 11.45am (race eight) and 3.45pm (race nine). For full event information, visit www.supercars.com.au
For more information on Nulon Racing, please visit www.premiairracing.sailorstudio.net 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
