GRM mechanic steps up for drive in Dunlop Series

Victorian teenager James Golding will shift from his race mechanic duties to driver as he embarks on his first full time season in the V8 Supercars Dunlop Series at the Clipsal 500 Adelaide.

The 19-year-old Garry Rogers Motorsport apprentice will race under his team's banner this season in an ex-Michael Caruso Holden Commodore VE, having previously made his rookie debut in the V8 Supercars Dunlop Series in a one-off appearance at the Sydney NRMA 500 last year.

A former state and national karting champion, Golding fits the bill as a GRM-prodigy, having established himself as one-to-watch after narrowly missing out on the 2014 Australian Formula Ford title.

While his initial impression of a V8 Supercar under race conditions at Sydney Olympic Park exceeded his expectations, Golding said the seat time was the ultimate way to condition himself for his full-time assault.

"It was a pretty big experience I had at Sydney, it was a bit of a new experience so I didn't know how I was going to go, but I was pretty happy with how I went," Golding explained to v8supercars.com.au on his top-20 qualifying and race efforts.

"The racing was a bit more intense than what I thought, just the visibility out of the cars - I didn't expect it to be as tricky as what it was, in terms of the kerbs and not being able to see them once you get to the corner. Just getting used to that was the biggest thing.

"I was definitely a lot more comfortable in the car towards the end of the weekend, as opposed to where I was at the start. I got a lot of things out of it and I'm definitely a lot more prepared for this year than what I would have been if I didn't get to do it, so it's given me a bit more confidence as well."

Golding's 2012-specification Holden was sold to Dragon Motorsport by GRM, but has been leased back to the Dandenong South-based outfit to prepare and run the car for Golding.

As his apprenticeship with GRM continues, Golding will work alongside his team in preparing the #99 entry, engineered by David Swenson.

"The weekends that the Development Series are racing I'll be concentrating on all my stuff and then when I'm not doing that, I'll be back as a part of the team working on the Volvos," he explained.

The humble Victorian believes his already-established relationships with the team personnel, coupled with GRM's passionate winning culture, will make the best possible grounding to kick-off his V8 Supercars career and fulfil his goals at the first round of the season.

"I work on my own car, so there's definitely going to be things that I'll deal with that I've caused over the season," he joked about fixing his own damage.

"But it's a really good place to start. I really couldn't have got a better place, especially when I've been working here already... it's good to already have experience working with them [his team].

"As far as Clipsal goes, I obviously want to finish all the sessions and hopefully maybe get a top ten at some point in the weekend - that would be good as well... having a good team around me is going to make it a lot easier and put less pressure on me as well."

The Dunlop Series will take to the track for the first time in 2015 at the annual season opener, the Clipsal 500 Adelaide, which begins tomorrow.