Xiberras defends Golding over costly Murray move

PremiAir Racing boss Peter Xiberras has thrown his support behind driver James Golding, who lost Bathurst victory over a late clash with Cooper Murray.

Golding spun Murray at Griffins Bend as they disputed the lead with five laps remaining, opening the door to eventual winner Matt Payne.

Golding got back past Payne and crossed the finish line first, but a five-second penalty over the incident gifted the win to the Penrite Racing star.

Erebus Motorsport rookie Murray hit out at Golding over the clash post-race, claiming the move wasn’t on, and that the penalty wasn't severe enough.

Golding, who sought out Murray post-race, declared he "had to have a go" and "knew I'd regret it if I didn't have a go so unfortunately it didn't work out, I'm sorry to him that it didn't work out."

When asked about Murray’s comments on Supercars’ Cool Down Lap presented by Moza Racing, Xiberras offered a different view, claiming the Erebus driver turned in on Golding.

"That's a hard one. You could argue it from both sides. I see it from his side and I see it from our side,” Xiberras explained.

“Our job is to go for it. That's what racing's all about. I would've been upset with Jimmy if he didn't go for it. We believe Cooper turned in on Jimmy. It's happened to us, I dunno how many times.

“But anyway, this time the ruling went against us. But look, rules are rules and I'll cop it on the chin.

“In my opinion, if Cooper had held his line, Jimmy would've sailed on through and we wouldn't be talking about it.”

Xiberras remained proud despite missing out on what would’ve been the team’s first Supercars victory.

All told, PremiAir came home with third, with Golding/David Russell reclassified to the final spot on the podium behind Payne/Garth Tander and David Reynolds/Lee Holdsworth. The sister Richie Stanaway/Nash Morris car crashed out late on.

“You start the beginning of the weekend and you have certain visions and hopes of what you're gonna achieve, and not once did I think that we could win this race,” Xiberras said, smiling.

“To have our nose in front… even when we were leading the Great Race, it was like, 'well, we are leading the race'. There's so many moments where it was just, 'I think this is our day, I think this is our day'.

"And, as you know in this sport, it can just turn. We were looking really good there for two cars in the 10, and Jimmy was on for a win.

"But look, for all the reasons that gave us opportunity there, some reasons took it away. I've gotta be stoked. I'm not gonna talk it up or talk it down.

"I never thought in my wildest dreams, I'd watch my car cross the line first, but be pissed off.”