The #31 PremiAir Racing Camaro of Jimmy Golding and David Russell will start Sunday’s Great Race from P13 after a hard-fought Bathurst 1000 qualifying session at Mount Panorama this afternoon.
Golding missed out on the top ten shootout by an excruciating margin of seven hundredths of a second (from the P10 time), while being just three tenths off the pole time.
While not the result they wanted, the team is remaining optimistic, pointing to the fast pace exhibited by the #31 since rolling off the trailer yesterday and the fact that the entry is still well in the mix with its P13 starting position on the seventh row of the grid.
For Richie Stanaway and co-driver Nash Morris, it was a less positive day, with the #62 set to start Sunday’s race from P23 – although things did start to turn around for the entry during qualifying, albeit without being reflected in the lap times.
“After the positivity of Thursday, it was really disappointing to have the issues we did today,” said Stanaway. “The car just didn’t feel right and it has been a frustrating day as we worked through potential fixes and didn’t find what we wanted.
“Through qualifying it did rally somewhat but we were still not where we needed to be which will see us start towards the back for the race. But with 1000km of racing to come, and with the unpredictability of this place, we still have hope that we can turn things around.
“We have a plan with what we are going to do on the #62 and we have two more hour-long practice sessions tomorrow to use to try and get it right for Sunday, and we will be looking to take advantage of every single minute we can.”
For the #62, while a P23 qualifying result is disappointing, it does not fully demonstrate the resurgence experienced with the car during the 40-minute session. While it wasn’t enough for a better starting position, this does leave the team with a clear direction as it looks to continue its preparations tomorrow.
Saturday 11 October will host practice five (10.05am – co-drivers only – 60 minutes) and practice six (1.10pm – 60 minutes – all drivers), before the Top Ten Shootout at 5.05pm (45 minutes); before Sunday (12 October) brings the Great Race itself – following a 20 minute warm-up at 8.30am, the flag will drop for 1000km and 161 laps of incredible racing at 11.45am. Please note – all times local (AEDT).
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