PREMIAIR Racing is assessing how to turn around a sudden slump in James Golding’s qualifying performance.
After securing top six starts for both races at the Bathurst 500, Golding has qualified 15th or worse in six successive outings – the worst such run since he joined PremiAir in mid-2022.
Lowly grid slots did not stop him from salvaging some respectable results at Taupō, charging from 22nd to seventh in Race 1 and 16th to fifth in Race 2.
“He had another average weekend in term of qualifying pace, and not everything is on him,” said PremiAir competition director Ludo Lacroix.
“On our side we are probably still trying and searching for what is making him tick; he is unsettled, and Romy (Mayer, engineer) is not clear in terms of what he needs so it is difficult to give him what he needs.
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“For the race, we are probably more relating to what we know is going to work and we use set-up which we have done in Bathurst and a couple of races, where we know we have the length so we can actually pit early and go for a long race and that was positive.
“That was a fantastic P5.”
It’s proof to Lacroix that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
“Unfortunately, we are not speaking of wins, we are not speaking of glory and trophies yet, but these are steps,” said the Frenchman.
“If we were to quali better, we wouldn’t have to fight as much and all our lives would be better. We need to put us in a better position earlier.”
Tim Slade’s Taupō weekend was in stark contrast to Golding, qualifying strongly for both races only for results to go begging. On the Saturday, Slade was tangled in a startline incident, while a refuelling drama contributed to a lowly Sunday finish.
