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January 24, 2021 | General

James Golding completes Symmons practice sweep

James Golding has completed a sweep of both practice sessions for the opening round of the VHT S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship, topping a shortened second session aboard his Team Valvoline GRM entry.

After having earlier topped the first session, Golding’s 49.67s best in the afternoon session was slightly slower than his practice one benchmark, though the field was closer overall as teams and drivers get up to speed.

CLICK HERE for results from practice today.

Team BRM’s Joey Mawson was second, just 0.0201s behind Golding with a 49.69s flyer.

He in turn edged out his teammate Thomas Randle (pictured), who was a further 0.1 seconds behind in third, having placed second in the opening practice session.

Former Gold Star Champion Tim Macrow improved from sixth to fourth in the second session; his 49.93s best only 0.26s from the fastest time showing the competitive intent of this year’s Gold Star field.

Nathan Hearne and Ricky Capo were fifth and sixth, respectively, with Luis Leeds, Tommy Smith, Cooper Webster, Antonio Astuti and Brayden Willmington completing the practice order.

Webster unfortunately brought out the only red flag of the first day of the S5000 session, his 88 Racing car stranded at turn two late in the session. A lengthy recovery saw time run out on the session with cars not resuming.

Five drivers lapped beneath the existing Symmons Plains outright lap record today, set in 1980 by four-time Australian Drivers Champion Alfredo Costanzo in a Lola F5000. The 41-year-old record is expected to fall in the opening race tomorrow.

The VHT S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship returns for Qualifying (liven on 7+) and Race 1 of the 2021 Championship on Monday, the race to be shown live on 7mate.