Golding edges Feeney in thrilling Darwin Shootout

James Golding and PremiAir Nulon Racing have broken through in Darwin, with the Victorian taking out a thrilling Boost Mobile Top Ten Shootout.

Last-man out Golding went just 0.0789s faster than Broc Feeney, with the two Chevrolets to share the front row for Saturday’s betr Darwin Triple Crown opener.

Golding pieced together a 1:06.2302s to put just 0.0789s on Feeney, who is in the box seat to eat into teammate Will Brown’s championship lead.

Brown was sixth in the Shootout behind Anton De Pasquale, with Mark Winterbottom and Nick Percat completing the second row.

It's also the first pole position for Romy Mayer, who is the only full-time female Race Engineer in the Repco Supercars Championship.

"Unbelievable, I can't describe it," Golding said.

"It's all thanks to the team here. As you can see with the smiles, it's just fantastic to see after all the hard work we've put in.

"I think there's more to come."

Andre Heimgartner opened proceedings with a 1:06.7674s on what appeared to be a slippery surface, with Cam Waters going just 0.0897s quicker with a 1:06.6777s.

PremiAir Nulon Racing’s first driver, Tim Slade, went next — but his 1:06.6779s fell just 0.0002s short of Waters’ time.

De Pasquale was next, but got crossed up at Turn 1, and appeared to have thrown his lap away. However, he managed to recover and set a 1:06.5503s, which was still good enough for top spot.

Brown also struggled to get his car pulled up at Turn 1, and slotted into second, albeit by just 0.0530s.

The target time for Feeney, Winterbottom, Percat and Golding to beat was a 1:06.5503s, and one corner into Feeney’s lap, the Shell Ford’s time appeared set to stick.

Feeney was also crossed up into Turn 1, and ran wide into the dirt at corner exit. However, he clocked the best second and third sectors to put 0.2412s on De Pasquale with a 1:06.3091s.

Winterbottom went fastest in the first sector, but lost time in Sector 2 and ended up just 0.0530s behind Feeney, who only had Percat and Golding standing in his way of a second Darwin pole.

Percat put together a 1:06.4595s to slot into third, with the Grand Prix winner just 0.1504s from provisional pole — a far cry from his last four starts, which reaped an average grid spot of 19.75.

As he has been all weekend, Golding was smooth and calculated, and while the margin was less than 0.1s, it was enough to deliver the 28-year-old a maiden Supercars pole in his 131st attempt.

It was also the first Supercars pole position for Peter Xiberras’ PremiAir Nulon Racing, which debuted in 2022 after taking over Team Sydney.

The first 48-lap race of the betr Darwin Triple Crown, Race 11, will start at 3:10pm ACST/3:40pm AEST.