Day one of the 60th anniversary running of the Bathurst 1000 at the infamous Mount Panorama has seen Nulon Racing and the rest of the Supercars field complete two one-hour practice sessions, one for all drivers and one for co-drivers.
With two hours of on-track running now in the books, Nulon Racing Team Manager Stephen Robertson says the team is right on schedule with its preparation program for the coming days.
In practice one, all four drivers took laps around the Mountain in the #23 Movember Racing Team Camaro (Tim Slade and Jonathon Webb) and the #31 Nulon Racing Camaro (Jimmy Golding and Dylan O’Keeffe), while the second session was for co-drivers only. In both sessions, the team worked through a pre-set program in preparation for the coming days.
“Across both the #23 Movember Racing Team Camaro of Tim Slade and Jonothan Webb and the #31 Nulon Racing Camaro of Jimmy Golding and Dylan O’Keeffe, we have had a very busy day working through our early event checklist preparing for the upcoming Great Race,” Robertson said.
“From bedding in brakes, to practicing rotor and driver changes as well as race starts, to getting in plenty of on-track running time, all of our drivers and the crew put in a really solid day of work at the Mountain today.
“There is more speed to find of course, but we have plenty of data to go through tonight and we know what direction we want to go in ready for tomorrow’s two practice sessions and the all-important qualifying session.”
The #31 Nulon Racing Camaro set the 13th and 16th fastest times across practice one and practice two.
“With day one at the Bathurst 1000 finished up it has been a great day. The sky has cleared, there was no rain, and we enjoyed two clean practice sessions. It was a smooth day, and everything went to plan – we got a few changes in too, and are feeling good now heading into tomorrow,” Golding said.
“It has been good to have a fair few laps around the Mountain today, with two sessions in the Carrera Cup and the two for Supercars. It was good to get back into the rhythm of the track, and the last session felt really good in the Supercar focusing on race funs, fuel saving and all the usual stuff getting ready for Sunday. I am feeling comfortable which is the main thing, and the car is feeling good, I am definitely looking forward to the next three days,” O’Keeffe said.
The #23 Movember Racing Team Camaro lodged the 26th and 25th fastest times across the two sessions.
“It is always good to get day one in the books. We have a bit to work on and then we have a couple of practice sessions tomorrow and then qualifying in the afternoon, so it is going to be an exciting day tomorrow. I am looking forward to getting to lap around here a bit faster and on some newer tyres, that is something to look forward to,” Slade said.
“There is never a bad day at Bathurst,” grinned Webb. “I had a short run with Tim this morning and the car was quite good, and then I had my co-driver session this afternoon. I think the tyre degradation over the long run seemed quite good, we just needed a bit more speed. I am feeling comfortable in the car, and we will sit with the gurus tonight and work through all the data and find some more,” Webb said.
The Bathurst 1000 action will continue Friday (6 October) with practice 3 and 4 as well as qualifying on Friday (P3 10.10am-11.10am; P4 1.00pm-2.00pm; qualifying 4.15pm-4.55pm). Saturday will then host practice 5 from 10.20am to 11.20am and practice 6 from 1.00pm to 2.00pm, followed by the Top Ten Shootout at 5.05pm. The Great Race itself will kick off at 11.15am on the Sunday, running for 1000km/161 laps. For event information, visit www.supercars.com.au
Nulon Racing will be publishing a day wrap at the conclusion of each day of the event which will be emailed to subscribers, published on social media, and also available on the website. Race weekend updates will also be published across the weekend on the www.premiairracing.com website and published to social media.
For more information on 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
