News
Golding Charges to First Trans Am Victory in Wild Tassie Tussle
March 20, 2024
James Golding has emerged from the AWC Race Tasmania weekend as a Trico Trans Am Series race and round winner, while the action heated up for the rest of our squad.
Trans Am
It was Tim Slade who led the way for Garry Rogers Motorsport in Trans Am qualifying, putting his Breeze Racing car fifth on the grid. James Moffat and Golding were just 0.045 seconds further back to be sixth and seventh. Tom Davies and Edan Thornburrow started their weekends from ninth and 11th on the grid.
Save for some Safety Car interventions, the first race of the weekend was trouble free, with Golding picking his way past Moffat and Slade to finish in fifth. The forward progress continued for the #31 in race two, with Golding picking his way to third place.
It was a great drive from Davies as well in the second race, racing forward to 13th from the back of the grid after some contact in the opening race.
After running third for most of race three, Golding pounced late to take the lead of the race with a sharp move through the final two corners on the penultimate lap. It marked the first Trans Am victory for Golding, coming in just his second round.
It was smooth sailing for Golding in race four, running away to record another comfortable victory and secure the overall round win. Moffat rounded out his weekend in fifth, holding on to his series lead, with Thornburrow in 10th and Davies in 11. Slade had been running well, but picked up a fault late on which forced him to retire early.
Moffat continues to lead, while Golding has climbed to third in the standings. Slade is seventh, with Thornburrow in 10th and Davies in 12th.
TCR Australia
In the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series, the weekend started with both Valvoline cars through to Q2 and sharing row three on the grid – Aaron Cameron in fifth and Ryan Casha in sixth.
Ben Bargwanna lined up in eighth with Jordan Cox in ninth, both drivers just a whisker away from making the Q2 cut.
Race one was interrupted by a red flag and a safety car, later to be deemed a no points pace, with Bargwanna having charged to fifth ahead of Cox and Cameron.
The team worked hard to repair Casha’s car in time for race two, after being the innocent victim in a lap one crash, and the rookie lined up from the back for the reverse top 10 race. Cox enjoyed a strong race in his Schaeffler Peugeot, fighting forward to finish in third place. Bargwanna was just behind in fourth, while Casha climbed to 10th. This time around it was Cameron who was the innocent victim, as he was turned around while fighting for the lead.
Race three delivered some of the best TCR racing in recent memory, with our quartet featuring amongst the action. Starting from 10th, Casha made the most of the mayhem to finish in fifth place. Cameron was sixth at the line, but a penalty moved him back to ninth in the final results. Cox picked up sixth place as a result, after featuring at the front throughout the early stages of the race. Bargwanna recovered to finish in eighth, despite being turned around early on.
Provisionally, Cox and Bargwanna are both one point off the series lead after two rounds. Casha sits in sixth, with Cameron in ninth.
Phillip Island is next up on the calendar for both Trans Am and TCR Australia, from April 12-14.