Lacroix protégé's big Bathurst statement

James Golding finished P5 in Bathurst 500 finale
Golding 10th in points after first weekend with engineer Romy Mayer
Mayer reunited with former Triple Eight colleague Ludo Lacroix

The new season has started brightly for PremiAir Nulon Racing engineer Romy Mayer, who under mentor Ludo Lacroix, recorded her best result as a Race Engineer.

Mayer, who joined the Peter Xiberras-owned team midway through 2023, recently led James Golding to fifth in Race 2 at Thrifty Bathurst 500.

Golding was in the frame early for a maiden Supercars podium after jumping to second, before being hit by Triple Eight star Broc Feeney at The Chase.

The #31 Camaro dropped from second to eighth, but clever strategy — led by Mayer — saw Golding race back into contention, eventually finishing fifth.

It was one spot shy of Golding’s career-best result, while for Mayer, it bettered the eighth placing of the Craig Lowndes/Declan Fraser Triple Eight wildcard from 2022.

First lap: Mostert gets the jump, Hill sent into a spin

Notably, it came in the first race weekend in the reunion of Mayer and Lacroix, who scouted Mayer to join Triple Eight nearly 10 years ago.

“Obviously worked with Ludo before at Triple Eight,” Mayer said after Race 2.

“Actually, he was the one who hired me when I came from Germany to Australia, so I know him very well."

On the Race 2 comeback, she added: “The pace was pretty good, after the first lap incident, we were pretty strong.

“I think the strategy went well — probably P4 was in there, but we take P5 obviously for the first race weekend of the year, we’re pretty happy with that.”

Mayer, who made a name for herself in DTM and GT3 racing with HWA in Germany, is the only full-time female race engineer in Supercars.

After joining Triple Eight, she enjoyed success as the Data and Performance Engineer for Jamie Whincup, as well as gaining valuable experience with the team’s GT3 and Super2 programs.

Lacroix and Mayer are again affiliated with Triple Eight, which has a customer relationship with PremiAir Nulon Racing.

For Lacroix, the ambition is unlocking the performance Triple Eight found in Bathurst, with Broc Feeney and Will Brown sweeping both poles and wins on offer.

“It’s tough, first day of school, you’d say,” said Lacroix, who departed Dick Johnson Racing in the off-season.

“The atmosphere is fantastic, I really enjoy the willingness of the people, and getting back with some people I really like, and have known for a long time.

“The car is capable, we just need to understand how to set them up. Triple Eight is showing us where to go in terms of pace. If we can’t match them, that’s our problem.”

Golding, meanwhile, has pleased for patience amid the changes, with teammate Tim Slade’s first weekend with former Blanchard Racing Team engineer Mirko De Rosa reaping two 17th place finishes.

“We want to be more consistently up the front this year,” Golding said.