Nathan Goulding wins class championship in Historic Sports and Racing Car Association Group N Series | western avocado
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He didn’t have the fastest car or the most experience, but Nathan Goulding brought a lot of perseverance to the Historic Sports and Racing Car Association’s Group N series. It was this perseverance that led him to be crowned 2019 Nb class champion despite missing two rounds of the series. “All we had done all year was be competitive, learn the car, keep improving and that kept us in the game,” he said. “We did six months last year and although we said we would do the championship this year, the goal was never to win it, it was just to be competitive. The guy who got it won last year and was still very competitive this year is an absolute monster, he’s been in his car for 10 years.” Goulding’s season seemed to be over when he broke a crank in his Morris Mini Cooper S during practice for the Sydney Master Blast round in September. The damage led to a “big dollar, very expensive” engine rebuild. The process involved meant he missed the October round at Wakefield, but luckily for the Bathurst rider the man leading the battle for class honors – Alex D’Onofrio – was also absent. “So basically when you break a crank in a mini it breaks everything – it goes through the gearbox, the piston, the head, the valves, you know you’re making an absolute mess of it,” Goulding said. . “At first we thought it might have been a broken flywheel and it wasn’t something that serious. But we took it down on the track that night…instead to be one piece, the crank was two pieces. It was “Unfortunately with these things you can’t buy a complete thing, you have to buy individual parts and then have them machined and made as you want for the motor to run properly. “We had to wait for handmade pistons, we had to wait for the crank to be machined, for another block to be machined – there was a lot at stake.” READ MORE: Big Bathurst 6 Hours support card locked READ MORE: Bathurst winner Premat fired as McLaughlin’s co-driver READ MORE: Barnicoat close to breaking two-minute barrier A week before the season finale at Sydney Motorsport Park – the summer festival – Goulding has rebuilt his engine. This meant he was still in contention for the class championship. He skipped training, laughing “we have banned training on Fridays now because all the problems happen in training on Fridays”. Then, for most of Saturday’s 15-minute qualifying session, Goulding took a cautious approach as he installed the new engine. He pushed his Morris Cooper S for a flying lap which saw him third fastest in class. It was there that he also finished Saturday’s opening race, although Goulding was unhappy with his efforts behind the wheel. “That one [practice] The lap was good enough to get me close enough to where I needed to be,” he said. “But the first race I drove like an absolute old woman, like grandma on the road could have driven better than me. It had been months since I had hopped in the car and I just wasn’t driving well. “I was nervous as hell and just worried about how hard I would have to drive the engine – all those little doubting things that come to mind. But look, the car was perfect, I don’t I just didn’t drive it well.” However, Goulding improved in race two and race three to stay in contention. His car speed was much better, but that was another factor that ultimately led to his success. “The guy I was trying to beat, his car was having overheating issues. I ended up beating him on Saturday afternoon and then on Sunday he didn’t show up because he had huge engine problems “, said Goulding. “I improved my riding style, it was a lot smoother, the lap times were better – I still cut my lap time by half a second – and it all went from there. It was a good end to a very difficult few months.” Goulding thanked engine builder and teammate Nathan Stevenson, who finished third in the same championship, and pit crew member Hamish Bedwell for their help.
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He didn’t have the fastest car or the most experience, but Nathan Goulding brought a lot of perseverance to the Historic Sports and Racing Car Association’s Group N series.
GOLDEN YEAR: Nathan Goulding of Bathurst was crowned winner of the Historic Sports and Racing Car Association NB Class. Photo: CONTRIBUTE
It was this perseverance that led him to be crowned 2019 Nb class champion despite missing two rounds of the series.
“All we had done all year was be competitive, learn the car, keep improving and that kept us in the game,” he said.
“We did six months last year and although we said we would do the championship this year, the goal was never to win it, it was just to be competitive. The guy who got it won last year and was still very competitive this year is an absolute monster, he’s been in his car for 10 years.”
Goulding’s season seemed to be over when he broke a crank in his Morris Mini Cooper S during practice for the Sydney Master Blast round in September.
The damage led to a “big dollar, very expensive” engine rebuild. The process involved meant he missed the October round at Wakefield, but luckily for the Bathurst rider the man leading the battle for class honors – Alex D’Onofrio – was also absent.
“So basically when you break a crank in a mini it breaks everything – it goes through the gearbox, the piston, the head, the valves, you know you’re making an absolute mess of it,” Goulding said. .
“At first we thought it might have been a broken flywheel and it wasn’t something that serious. But we took it down on the track that night…instead to be in one piece, the crank was in two pieces. It was not good.
“Unfortunately with these things you can’t buy a complete thing, you have to buy individual parts and then have them machined and manufactured the way you want them to run the engine properly.
“We had to wait for handmade pistons, we had to wait for the crank to be machined, for another block to be machined – there was a lot at stake.”
A week before the season finale at Sydney Motorsport Park – the Summer Festival – Goulding has rebuilt his engine. This meant he was still in contention for the class championship.
He skipped training, laughing “we have banned training on Fridays now because all the problems happen in training on Fridays”. Then, for most of Saturday’s 15-minute qualifying session, Goulding took a cautious approach as he installed the new engine.
He pushed his Morris Cooper S for a flying lap which saw him third fastest in class. It was there that he also finished Saturday’s opening race, although Goulding was unhappy with his efforts behind the wheel.
“That one [practice] lap was good enough to get me pretty close to where I needed to be,” he said.
“But the first race I drove like an absolute old woman, like grandma on the road could have driven better than me. It had been months since I had hopped in the car and I wasn’t driving everything just not well.
“I was nervous as hell and just worried about how hard I would have to drive the engine – all those little doubting things that come to mind. But look, the car was perfect, I don’t I just didn’t drive it well.”
However, Goulding improved in race two and race three to stay in contention. His car speed was much better, but that was another factor that ultimately led to his success.
“The guy I was trying to beat, his car was having overheating issues. I ended up beating him on Saturday afternoon and then on Sunday he didn’t show up because he had huge engine problems “, said Goulding.
“I improved my riding style, it was a lot smoother, the lap times were better – I still cut my lap time by half a second – and it all went from there. It was a good end to a very difficult few months.”
Goulding thanked engine builder and teammate Nathan Stevenson, who finished third in the same championship, and pit crew member Hamish Bedwell for their help.
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