DARWIN, Australia — James Golding showed the way during Boost Mobile Qualifying for the Repco Supercars Championship Friday at Hidden Valley Raceway.
The PremiAir Nulon Racing driver is now the only driver in the hunt to win the Darwin Triple Crown, having ended Friday’s action on top.
Golding claimed provisional pole ahead of Nick Percat and last year’s Darwin winner Mark Winterbottom. Broc Feeney and Will Brown qualified fourth and fifth, respectively, for Triple Eight.
“It’s really challenging out there, with the heat up here in Darwin and getting the tires dialed in right without sliding it too much and having some tire left at the end of the lap there,” Golding said. “So, pretty tricky, but yeah, managed to hold on to it. Credit to all the boys and girls here. We’ve been working really hard over the last couple of years, we’re finally getting closer.
“Obviously the job’s not finished yet. I wish there wasn’t a Shootout now, but it’s a good way to be certainly heading into tomorrow. We’ve got a lot of confidence.”
Anton De Pasquale was the first Ford in the top 10 in sixth ahead of David Reynolds, Cam Waters and Andre Heimgartner.
The biggest shock was the lack of pace for Walkinshaw Andretti United, with Perth winner Chaz Mostert 22nd and Ryan Wood 24th.
The top 10 shootout to set the grid on Saturday takes the green flag at 10:45 p.m. ET on Friday evening (Live on SPEED SPORT 1).
The first race is set for Saturday (1:40 a.m. ET on SPEED SPORT 1), with another top 10 shootout at 10:00 p.m. ET (Live on SPEED SPORT 1) and the finale on Sunday (1:40 a.m. ET on SPEED SPORT 1).