PremiAir, Pither back Golding despite crash

James Golding has earned big support from within following Sunday’s dramatic chicane crash.

Golding spun in front of the field after clattering a tyre bundle at the beach chicane.

Several cars picked up damage, with Golding one of six cars out on the spot.

The #31 Subway Commodore picked up major damage, and looms to be a write-off.

The Arundel-based team has strongly been in Golding’s corner since he joined the team in July.

He recorded PremiAir Racing’s first ever Shootout berth on Sunday.

While the race ended with a bent car, PremiAir Team Principal Matt Cook was otherwise impressed by his young charger’s pace.

“We went from a very good top 10 qualifying result to a not so good race result,” Cook said on Supercars’ Cool Down Lap podcast.

“Jimmy put up his hand… those back chicanes are brutal, unfortunately it's caught him out.

“He said he was gonna turn right, but that would've turned him hard right into the fence.

“He tried to correct it, but unfortunately it sort’ve spat him left.

“It’s one of those pendulum-type effects that caught him out, and the car’s heavily damaged.”

Cook also praised Chris Pither, who raced to a brilliant ninth after avoiding the incident.

Pither will depart the team after the Adelaide finale, but finally gave the #22 side of the garage some joy on a tough day for the team.

“He’s one of the more senior drivers here,” Cook said of Pither.

“He’s kept a level head, he’s kept pretty calm. His race results have been up and down.

“But he kept his nose clean, he showed he has patience, he avoided that accident.

“He propped the car, got through it and away he went.”

Pither himself lent his support to Golding, who is expected to stay on with the team next year.

"I was so sorry to see what happened to Jimmy and I am glad that he is A-okay,” Pither said.

“We just managed to get around that incident and so we were able to continue on.

“We kept our heads down, our nose clean, and chipped away at it to make sure we brought home the best result possible.

“To be able to bring home the best result the #22 has had this year is something I am really happy about.

Hopefully we can take this momentum and continue into Adelaide and see if we can do even better.”

The 2022 Repco Supercars Championship will conclude on the Adelaide streets in December.