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Golding tops first S5000 practice at Hidden Valley
JAMES GOLDING has fired the first salvo in the debut of the S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship at Darwin’s Hidden Valley Raceway, topping the first practice session on Friday morning.
Golding’s 1m03.6466s best saw him top practice one by 0.4 seconds ahead of Kaleb Ngatoa’s Team BRM entry.
RESULTS: Practice 1
The first-up effort from the Valvoline GRM driver was impressive and compares favourably to Hidden Valley’s 21-year-old outright lap record – held by Kiwi Simon Wills in a Formula Holden at a 1m02.9268s.
Lap times are expected to improve as the teams and drivers learn the circuit and conditions in the second practice session and qualifying on Saturday.
Ngatoa was impressive in second on his return to the championship, fractionally ahead of Nathan Herne in the second Valvoline GRM entry.
Cooper Webster was fourth, championship leader Joey Mawson fifth and his Sydney rival, Aaron Cameron, sixth.
Tim Macrow was seventh and Blake Purdie eighth in his Nippy’s entry from Versa Motorsport.
The top eight cars were covered by just 0.7 seconds in an indicator of the competition yet to come.
Jordan Boys and John Martin worked their way back into S5000 life in ninth and tenth, respectively, while Sebastien Amadio and Tim Berryman – racing for the first time since 2019 – completed the 12-car field.
The second session commences at 1pm local time and will be shown live on Fox Sports 506 and Kayo Sport.