'About bloody time' for PremiAir, Golding with surprise podium

It was a matter of "about bloody time" for James Golding, who combined with David Russell to claim a long awaited maiden podium for PremiAir Racing at the Penrite Oil Sandown 500.

There were two near misses in Darwin for Golding, who claimed his and the team’s maiden pole position for Race 11 of the season, before finishing fourth in both races.

Golding and co-driver David Russell deliberately played a long game in the practice sessions electing to focus heavily on a race setup given the wet forecast for yesterday’s running.

Although they started 14th, Golding got a blinding start to sit 10th at the end of the first lap, before the pair chipped away to find themselves in the podium places by lap 90 of an eventual 154.

A jubilant Golding also broke through for his maiden podium finish today, and was full of praise for the PremiAir team.

“All I can say is about bloody time,” quipped Golding in PIRTEK Victory Lane.

“Absolutely incredible, at the end of the race there we had really good pace, and the team did a great job.

“We focused on all the race stuff from the word go here, no qualifying stuff, and it really paid off, and this bloke [Russell] did an awesome job so I can’t thank him enough.”

“Everyone’s done an unbelievable job and just haven’t given up. We’ve been close at points and thinking we’re nearly there, and then the next time we drop back down again.

“It’s just about that hard work and determination. We got here, and now we’ve got to keep pushing.”

Russell, a high-profile enduro signing from a successful stint with Brodie Kostecki and Erebus Motorsport, has proven to be another key piece in PremiAir’s progression to the front.

Having finished second, fourth, and third in his last three Bathurst starts, the highly experienced Russell once again stood up in his stint against the likes of Garth Tander, Craig Lowndes, and Lee Holdsworth.

“I think I’ve been filling him full of confidence all week to be honest, we knew that we just needed to work on our race car, especially with all the wet weather, we just had to stick to our plan," said Russell, who has four podiums in the last five enduros.

“We knew it was going to be dry today, and we really worked on what we thought was going to evolve with the track today.

“It certainly came to us, I pointed it out to Jimmy, I said ‘look how clean our car is, this is how you’ve got to do it, don’t get involved in anything.’”

The result is justification for team owner Peter Xiberras’ tough decision mere months into his reign as a Supercars team owner that saw Golding get his second chance in the sport.

Founding driver Garry Jacobson was released from the team after the 2022 Darwin event, paving the way for Golding to return to his first full-time drive since Garry Rogers Motorsport closed at the end of 2019.

Golding immediately impressed at the team, regularly knocking on the door of the top 10 in his first season, before finishing 16th last season.

A highly touted talent in his junior days, Golding has begun to realise his potential this year, with today’s podium now moving up to sixth in the points standings.

Xiberras could barely find the words after seeing his team break through for their maiden podium finish.

“I thought waiting for your kids to be born was nerve wracking, but yeah that was pretty nerve-wracking,” said the drag racing star.

“I didn’t think this day was going to come, but I had a good feeling this morning, and we tried a few things different, and it’s paid off and I just can’t believe it.

Golding and Russell now head into the Repco Bathurst 1000, an event where they both starred last year, and will be hoping that PremiAir’s second podium isn’t as long a wait as the first.

Tickets for the 2024 Repco Bathurst 1000, to be held from October 10-13, are on sale now.