Golding's expectations shift after Darwin breakout

After a breakout weekend in Darwin, PremiAir Nulon Racing driver James Golding is now determined to fight for podiums on a consistent basis.

Triple Eight star Broc Feeney won both races, but Golding was the star of the show, claiming a maiden Supercars pole position and finishing fourth in both races.

It was a stunning turnaround for Golding, who before Darwin, was 12th in the championship, while he had an average grid position of 14.4, ranking him 18th.

Come Darwin, and Golding was the early benchmark over one lap, claiming provisional Race 11 pole before beating highly fancied rivals in the Boost Mobile Shootout.

Golding led Saturday’s race until a forceful lap 4 dive by Feeney dropped the #31 Camaro to third, before he eventually settled for fourth after the pit stops, denying a rampant Chaz Mostert.

The Victorian was fourth in Sunday’s Shootout, and that was again where he finished. Critically, Golding left Darwin a stunning fifth in the championship, ahead of Cam Waters.

Having made history with PremiAir Nulon Racing’s first pole, Golding now wants silverware.

“Every time you go out in the car, your expectations change, especially when you're getting better results,” Golding told the Schick Cool Down Lap podcast.

"But being consistently up there all weekend was what we've been missing in previous rounds. Even just being in the top 10 consistently every session, but we've had a clear jump overall this weekend.

"So, yeah, there's straight away change to expecting that from now on. If we can still just stay in that 10, you're always in the chance of being on the podium, which is what we've sort of missed previously.”

Race Engineer Romy Mayer echoed Golding’s sentiments, with the first thought after the race centred on how close the #31 was to the podium.

However, Mayer — the only full-time female engineer on the Supercars grid — said the team, which debuted in 2022, should still be proud.

“Straight after the race you always think that was so close to a podium, but obviously that is what everyone thinks,” Mayer said.

"In the end it was an amazing weekend for us, the pole obviously was great, and then to have two P4 results in the races, I think we can be happy with that.

"We didn’t quite maximise it like the big boys up the front, but I think for us as a young and smaller team it is an amazing result and we can definitely be happy with that."