Nulon Racing will start Sunday’s Bathurst 1000 from the second row of the grid after Jimmy Golding set the fourth-fastest time in the #31 Nulon Racing Camaro in his and the team’s first Bathurst Top Ten Shootout this afternoon.
Golding – who is sharing the #31 with co-driver Dylan O’Keeffe this weekend – earned his way into today’s Top Ten Shootout with a P2 Friday qualifying performance which saw him hailed by the event commentary team as the ‘Man of the Match.’
The 27-year-old again drew praise from the broadcast team during his Shootout lap, leaving nothing on the table with an impressive lap to secure P4 and a second-row grid start for tomorrow’s Great Race.
The Top Ten Shootout followed two final practice sessions earlier today, the first for the co-drivers and the second for all drivers, with the #31 setting the 18th and 7th fastest times, respectively, across the two sessions.
The #23 Movember Racing Team Camaro was also back on track today, with Tim Slade and co-driver Jonathon Webb making the most of their final pre-race preparation opportunities, setting the 11th and 19th fastest times across the two-hour-long outings. The #23 will start tomorrow’s 161-lap race from P18 following yesterday’s qualifying session.
“It has been a good day at the track today,” Nulon Racing Team Manager, Stephen Robertson, said.
“I am really looking forward to my first Bathurst 1000 race with the team. We are as best prepared as we could possibly be, with the entire team having done a lot of preparation with everyone working exceptionally well together to make sure we are in the best possible place we can be for tomorrow’s race.
“To make our first Bathurst 1000 Top Ten Shootout is something we are very proud of, and tomorrow – all being well – should be a great day for the Nulon & Movember Racing Team. Of course, this is Bathurst, and anything can happen, but we will be swinging for the fences. Last year we had a best result of 12th, and step one is to improve on that.”
Golding was very pleased with his Shootout experience.
“It was another awesome day for us,” Golding said.
“It started out with two more practice sessions, one for Dylan and one where we both did some laps where we looked to get the car a bit more dialled in for the race tomorrow while I also focused on the Top Ten Shootout.
“It was awesome to be in the Shootout, and to have the Mountain to myself was an amazing feeling.
“Really, it was a great day for me – we managed to get the second row on the grid with P4 in the Shootout, and I am stoked with that. I can’t wait to have a crack in the race tomorrow.”
“I have had another great day with the Nulon Racing team,” added O’Keeffe.
“In my co-driver session this morning, it was great to get more comfortable with the car and complete consecutive laps while staying clean and focusing on the race runs for tomorrow.
“In practice six, we practiced some driver changes, which will be important come the race, and then, of course, we capped the day off with a great result by Jimmy.
“It was super exciting watching him drive around the Mountain. He did an excellent job, and we are all super pumped for tomorrow.
“Of course, we have a long way to go, but we will keep ourselves in check, and I think the team will do a great job.”
Slade and Webb were also careful to make the most of their opportunities today.
“We had our final day of preparations before the big race tomorrow with a couple of practice sessions, one each,” Slade said.
“We tried a few things with the car, and I am pretty sure we are finalised now with race set-up. And it was cool to round out the day watching Jimmy in the Shootout.
“Obviously, I am looking forward to the big race – we are starting back a bit further than we would have liked, but anything is possible tomorrow.
“Yes, our day before last didn’t go ideally, but today was much better,” Webb added.
“Our race pace was all right, and we were working on how to look after the tyre and seeing what the fuel does. We jumped in and out a few times too, so pit stops are all sorted, and we will just see what happens tomorrow.”
The Great Race kicks off at 11.15am local time tomorrow (Sunday 8 October), 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
