James Golding confident of Finals bounceback
BRT driver fell out of bubble in tough Townsville
Perth the scene of BRT's first-ever podium in 2025
It's no secret that Blanchard Racing Team have endured a struggle over the past few months, a stark contrast to their flying start to the season.
James Golding copped the brunt of it on the streets of Townsville, being wiped out in two lap 1 incidents in the longer 200km races.
As a result, the #7 Ford tumbled out of a provisional Finals berth, with Jack Le Brocq and Matt Stone Racing the beneficiaries, however Golding's deficit is only 11 points.
With four rounds and well over 1000 points on offer before the Finals field is set at Bathurst, there is still plenty of water to go under the bridge, especially if BRT can find their early season speed.
Golding believes that a big step was taken in Townsville, where he qualified for Saturday's Top Ten Shootout off the back of a starter motor issue that kept him in pit lane for the majority of qualifying. He also qualified 10th for the Friday sprint.
"It could've been alright if I didn't get taken out twice," said Golding on an upcoming episode of Supercars' Drivers Only podcast.
"It wasn't amazing, but pace-wise we had a lot more pace than the last couple of rounds, we struggled a lot and had some issues going on.
"So to get on top of them and have some pace back, I wasn't too disappointed.
"The last rounds we've literally had nothing. You can have a good race if it just falls in your lap, but if you weren't actually fast you don't feel good about it."
"Anyway, now I've got a bit of work to do."
There is cause for optimism heading to Perth, where BRT's form reversal kicked into a new gear in 2025 off the back of James Courtney's breakthrough podium in the finale.
That podium came amid increased technical ties with the team now known as Walkinshaw TWG Racing, who have won races in the past two events at Perth with Chaz Mostert and Ryan Wood. BRT are now aligned with Triple Eight.
Golding was on course for a top five finish in the same race Courtney podiumed for PremiAir Racing, before he had a controversial collision with Wood in the dying laps.
The 30-year-old, who claimed pole for the first race of the year at Sydney, is confident that learnings from the lean period will only serve to make the CoolDrive Ford a more formidable contender as the Finals squeeze tightens.
"Traditionally, yeah, I've gone pretty good there. I'm looking forward to heading over there," Golding continued.
"We've learned a lot the last few rounds, so I think it's made clear things we need to focus on more as a team."
On-track action in Perth begins on Friday July 31.
