Golding takes tight Trans Am pole
James Golding has enjoyed a fast start to the Bathurst International by taking pole for the penultimate round of the 2024 Trans Am season.
Golding converted his hot pace in practice to pole position by posting a 2:10.6725.
It proved to be just enough, however, as the Garry Rogers Motorsport driver had to overcome some significant challenges from Todd Hazelwood and Nathan Herne.
Championship leader Hazelwood gave it everything but fell just 0.0214s short.
Herne also put in a spirited lap in his converted Mustang, which used to be a Dodge. He was a tenth away from the ultimate pace.
While Hazelwood would have been disappointed to be second best, he would have been pleased to see where he starts compared to his championship rivals.
His nearest competitor James Moffat could only manage seventh, two spots behind Jordan Boys, who sits third in the standings.
It was an intriguing session with split strategies as roughly half the field set their fastest times in their opening two laps, while the rest did it in the final two laps.
The fastest who went early were Golding, Hazelwood, and Herne, and they were rewarded by being the only ones in the 2m10s window.
Two 40-minute races await tomorrow, with Hazelwood leading Moffat by 32 points.
The only other categories that went qualifying on the Friday of the Bathurst International were Radical Cup and Australian Production Cars.
Another championship is set to go down to the wire in Radical Cup Australia, with Peter Paddon leading Cooper Cutts by 66 points entering the final round.
However, Cutts will start from pole position after posting a 2:12.5902.
This was two-tenths too much for Peter Clare, while Paddon had to settle for third, six-tenths adrift.
Justin Tigani and Terry Knowles rounded out the top five.
Cameron Crick used his Great Race experience to be in a league of his own in Australian Production Cars qualifying.
Crick’s rapid 2:20.9623 was a massive 3.7519s faster than the rest of the field.
Grant Sherrin and Simon Hodges ensured Class X BMWs filled the top three positions with the next best Chris Lillis in a Camaro.
Brad Shiels was fast in his Fiat. image: Mpix
Brad Shiels fired his Fiat 124 Coupe to the top in Practice 2 for the Precision National Sports Sedan Series.
He finished the 20-minute session as the only one in the 2m06s window, two-tenths ahead of Practice 1 leader Geoff Taunton.
Steve Tamasi and Peter Ingram completed the top four.
The pecking order in TCR Australia was shaken up in Practice 2 with Brad Harris ending the day on top but by the barest of margins.
The fans were given the licence to thrill as just 0.07s covered the top three cars.
In the end, Harris’ 2:16.1014 edged out Dylan O’Keeffe by 0.0545s, while Will Harris was a close third.
Zac Soutar was also not far away a tenth off the pace, while there was a further half a second to Aaron Cameron in the new P51.
Brad Harris flying on top of the mountain. Image: TCR Australia
The GT World Challenge Australia crews enjoyed an hour on track to complete the day and put on a show with a tight battle for the top.
Jayden Ojeda emerged fastest in his Tigani Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo by stopping the clock at 2:03.457s.
The all-Kiwi combination of Brendon Leitch and Tim Miles was second, just 0.135s back, while Alex Peroni was impressed in his first visit to the Mountain, being third.
Valentino Asuti was unable to get any laps due to a hub failure.
Impressively, Ryder Quinn produced the fastest lap of the day in GT4 Australia.
Quinn’s 2:15.3697 was not only the best in practice 2, but the best of the day by two tenths.
The only car within half a second of the benchmark was Lochie Dalton’s Buckby Motorsport Mercedes, which led Practice 1 with a 2:15.5977.
A further three-tenths adrift was Jake Camilleri in another Mercedes, and then it was the two Mustangs led by George Miedecke and Rylan Gray, while Aaron Seton and Jason Gomersall were a further eight-tenths back.
Bathurst International Saturday schedule
| Start | Finish | Category | Duration | Session | |
| 7:00 | 7:10 | Commence Circuit Closure | 0:10:00 | ||
| 7:10 | 7:15 | Circuit Closed | 0:05:00 | ||
| 7:15 | 7:35 | Precision National Sports Sedans | 0:20:00 | Qualifying | |
| 7:40 | 7:50 | Monochrome GT4 Australia | 0:10:00 | Qualifying 1 | |
| 8:00 | 8:10 | Monochrome GT4 Australia | 0:10:00 | Qualifying 2 | |
| 8:15 | 8:35 | Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia | 0:20:00 | Qualifying 1 | |
| 8:40 | 9:00 | Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia | 0:20:00 | Qualifying 2 | |
| 9:10 | 9:25 | Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series | 0:15:00 | Qualifying 1 | |
| 9:30 | 9:40 | Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series | 0:10:00 | Qualifying 2 | |
| 9:50* | 10:40 | First Focus Radical Cup Australia | 0:50:00 | 10:37 + 1 lap | Race 1 |
| 10:45 | 10:55 | Commence Circuit Opening | 0:10:00 | ||
| 10:55 | 11:35 | Residents Access | 0:40:00 | ||
| 11:35 | 11:45 | Commence Circuit Closure | 0:10:00 | ||
| 11:45 | 11:50 | Circuit Closed | 0:05:00 | ||
| 11:50* | 12:30 | Trico Trans Am Series | 0:40:00 | 12:27 + 1 lap | Race 1 |
| 12:45* | 13:45 | Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia | 1:00:00 | 13:42 + 1 lap | Race 1 |
| 14:05* | 14:35 | Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series | 0:30:00 | 14:32 + 1 lap | Race 1 |
| 14:45* | 15:05 | Precision National Sports Sedans | 0:20:00 | 15:02 + 1 lap | Race 1 |
| 15:10* | 15:50 | Trico Trans Am Series | 0:40:00 | 15:47 + 1 lap | Race 2 |
| 16:00* | 16:30 | Meguiar’s Australian Production Cars | 0:30:00 | 16:27 + 1 lap | Race 1 |
| 16:45* | 17:45 | Monochrome GT4 Australia | 1:00:00 | 17:42 + 1 lap | Race 1 |
| 17:50 | 18:00 | Commence Circuit Opening | 0:10:00 | ||
| 18:00 | Circuit Open |
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