Taupo Super 400 Saturday Debrief

GOLDING CHARGES THROUGH TO P7 AS SLADE WONDERS WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN

Jimmy Golding and the crew of the #31 PremiAir Nulon Racing Camaro have excelled in exceptionally wet conditions at day two of the Taupō Super400 today, finishing P7 after starting race 7 of the Supercars Championship from P22.

A combination of car speed, a calm and collected approach, and strong pit stops – plus some good luck to avoid other’s incidents – saw Golding break into the top 10 by lap 24 of what was scheduled to be a 60-lap race, maintaining a strong position throughout the remainder of the race before advancing to P7 by race end.

On the other side of the garage, it was a case of what could have been for Tim Slade in the #23 PremiAir Nulon Racing Camaro.

After a great qualifying and Top Ten Shootout which saw him advance from P10 to P4, Slade had an an exceptionally strong start from the second row of the grid to be threading the needle between the front two starters when contact ensued with pole-sitter, Cameron Waters, with that contact turning him into the interior fence and leaving him stranded on the straight with race-ending damage.

While of course disappointed with the turn of events for Slade, overall the positivity in the garage is high ahead of Sunday’s racing – which will hopefully be held in more pleasant weather conditions – with strong car speed and performance clearly demonstrated today in both the #23 and #31.

The Taupō Super400 action concludes tomorrow (Sunday 21 April) with race 8 of the Supercars Championship to be held over 60 laps from 3.05pm, preceded by a qualifying session (10.45am) and Top Ten Shootout (12.25pm) – all times local. For full scheduling information, visit www.supercars.com

QUOTE BOARD: TAUPŌ SUPER400 – SATURDAY 20 APRIL 2024

Ludo Lacroix – PremiAir Nulon Racing Competition Director

“It was a tough race for Tim obviously, but a nice result for Jimmy. I was very pleased to see him come from 22^nd through to seventh. It was really good work from him – very strong, solid, and calm and composed, I am really happy with that. I am very sorry for Timmy because all day in the wet conditions he showed us a lot of performance and then had that accident at the start where he had a fantastic start coming from the second row and was actually passing the first two cars. It was deemed a racing incident and it actually is a racing incident, it can happen and it is even worse in these sort of conditions where you cant see everywhere, the windows are all smoked and fogged and wet, so I wouldn’t blame anybody. But I am very sorry for him that he couldn’t showcase his performance because with what I have seen today he was the fastest of us two so we could have been playing with the top five. But we did very well to get Jimmy back into the top seven which is great for us.”

Tim Slade – #23 PremiAir Nulon Racing Camaro

“Unfortunately, my race ended pretty early, I didn’t make the first corner. I got a ripper start but then was the meat in the sandwich there and did just enough damage that we couldn’t continue. The rest of the day was fairly positive though, we had a decent qualifying and top ten shootout – the car is fast, the team have done an amazing job and hopefully we can bounce back tomorrow. It was awesome to see the #31 guys charge through the field and hopefully we can have both cars up there tomorrow.”

Jimmy Golding – #31 PremiAir Nulon Racing Camaro

“We didn’t quite get the qualifying right and ended up down the back there, but we came charging through in the race. The car was really speedy, so thanks to all the team for their hard work there, the cars has been fast today. Tomorrow is going to be a new day again, probably dry we hope, and it will be another challenge. We are looking forward to that, thanks to everyone for their support.”