Lacroix seeing steps towards trophies for PremiAir
James Golding seventh, fifth in Taupō races
Golding gained a combined 26 positions after qualifying woes
Tim Slade undone by crash, fuel issue in two races
PremiAir Nulon Racing Competition Director Ludo Lacroix says the team is taking “steps” towards trophies following standout race pace for James Golding, and one-lap performance for Tim Slade.
Golding was fourth overall at the ITM Taupō Super400, having finished the two 200km races in seventh and fifth.
Remarkably, Golding raced into the top seven twice despite starting no better than 16th, with the #31 Camaro a lowly 22nd in Saturday qualifying.
Conversely, teammate Slade had one-lap pace covered, reaching both Shootouts, but dramatically crashed out off the line on Saturday before being undone by a fuel issue on Sunday.
Lacroix suggested the team will be "speaking of glory” once it works out qualifying.
“It was a great drive from Jimmy. We had a good set-up which lasted which is good,” Lacroix said.
“That means that if we qualify poorly, which we did with Jimmy, at least we could play well in the long run, with a short strategy to undercut people and then go hard. I am pretty pleased for him.
"He had another average weekend in term of qualifying pace, and not everything is on him, on our side we are probably still trying and searching for what is making him tick.
"That was a fantastic P5, and so was overtaking Mostert at the end, we were stronger on tyres.
"Unfortunately, we are not speaking of wins, we are not speaking of glory and trophies yet, but these are steps.
“We should be doing it, if we were to quali better, we wouldn’t have to fight as much and all our lives would be better, we need to put us in a better position earlier.
Team owner Peter Xiberras was happy both cars had pace, saying on the Schick Cool Down Lap podcast: “We did show potential.
"I definitely think we've got car speed. James showed that today going from 16th to fifth. That was good.
"Tim, there was a few little issues there, but both cars did show good amounts of speed, so it's a positive sign.”
When asked if he felt the elusive podium was coming, Xiberras replied: “We keep talking about it, but yeah, we're just going to keep chipping away and hopefully it'll come."
Golding is 10th in the standings, and just 35 points from fourth overall. Slade was stung by the DNF, and is 21st heading to the next round in Perth.
