Another chaotic day for the entire Supercars field at the Melbourne SuperSprint today has been highlighted for Nulon Racing by a top eight finish in this afternoon’s race.
Tim Slade finished what was race five of the 2023 Supercars Championship in P8 after starting from 14th on the grid in the #23 Nulon Racing Camaro, despite having to avoid other people’s incidents on the track before being significantly held up in pit lane by other teams’ mechanics and a loose wheel.
Jimmy Golding meanwhile started from P7 and had a great start to his race undone when he was spun following a move by Chaz Mostert while Golding was battling for P5 with Andre Heimgartner. While Golding managed to avoid major damage to the #31 Nulon Racing Camaro by keeping it off the walls, the spin and subsequent rejoin saw him dropped all the way to the rear of the field, from where he persevered as best he could over the remaining laps to cross the line P19.
“It was a very exciting day, and overall, the team did a fantastic job. We had some really good qualifying speed, and a little bit of bad luck, but you have to take the bad with the good,” Nulon Racing Team Principal, Matt Cook, said.
“Tim had a really good race and kept marching forward and showing some really good speed. Unfortunately in a very congested pit lane he was baulked by the mechanics of some other teams and then had to dodge an unattended wheel, but he persevered and held on for P8.
“Jimmy qualified in P7 but had some really bad luck in the race where he was turned around and ended up down the back. That was really unfortunate as he had been in a really good spot prior to that.
“We had good speed in both cars, so that bodes well for us tomorrow and will be important as we look to advance up the field. Tim had some bad luck in qualifying for tomorrow, glancing a wall and damaging the car, and while we managed to fix it for today’s race he will start from the back of the grid tomorrow as we had to get dispensation for him to start as he didn’t actually bank a time that met the 107 percent rule. It wasn’t a great session for Jimmy either, but hopefully we can turn it around for a better result by the time the race is done!”
Slade said walking away with P8 today was a good result amidst the chaos unfolding on the Albert Park street circuit.
“I was pretty disappointed with myself to start the day with another mistake in the second qualifier and the car being damaged again – I am very sorry to everyone in the team for creating the unnecessary workload,” Slade said.
“In the race I actually got quite a good start, but then a bit of stuff unfolded, and I was on the wrong side of that, so the positions I gained into and through turn one were all undone by the exit as I was just on the wrong side of the stuff that went down there.
“The car speed was decent though so we pushed on, and there was a bit of carnage where we managed to just miss getting caught up both times and were able to pick up some spots in the process.
“In the pit lane, it was messy. It was really tight as the CoolDrive guys were set-up so I had to drive in around them, and then the car was a bit on the angle and then it was tight getting out, so I sort of went, but then I wasn’t sure if I was going to hit one of the Truck Assist guys so I just made sure he moved out of the way. And then I thought someone’s wheel had come off, but I have since been informed it was one of the Red Bull wheels which had been hit by Will Davison. So, I had to avoid that too.
“It was a pretty action filled race, but we had some good car speed and persevered as best we could to come home in P8. Hopefully we can carry that speed into tomorrow and enjoy a less complicated race!”
Golding was disappointed to see a better result go wanting following contact, but hopeful of a better day tomorrow.
“It was a crazy race with a lot going on!” Golding said.
“I had an awesome start and made up nearly three spots, I was battling side-by-side with Anton (De Pasquale) for fourth and then got a bump from him and kind of got pushed off a bit, but we regathered and went on to battle closely with Andre for most of the race.
“Unfortunately, Mostert tried to go down the inside and pass two cars in one corner which clearly didn’t work. It was pretty disappointing to have him end our day but we were lucky to keep it out of the wall and keep it straight so we can go again tomorrow.”
Sunday’s fourth and final race of the Melbourne SuperSprint will commence at 10.25am. 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
