James Golding has edged championship leader Joey Mawson in practice for the final round of the 2021 VHT S5000 season at Sydney Motorsport Park.
Mawson topped the latter 20-minute practice session with a 1:25.1871s just before the chequered flag but it was Golding’s 1:25.0876s in Practice 1 which left him quickest.
Mawson was also quicker in the earlier hit-out than he went in Practice 2, with his best for the day so far a 1:25.1533s.
The Team BRM driver therefore ended up second on combined times, and clear of team-mate and Australian Drivers’ Championship title rival Thomas Randle.
It was Luis Leeds (Garry Rogers Motorsport) who was third-fastest across the two sessions thanks to a 1:25.2599s in Practice 2.
That left Leeds a few tenths of a second ahead of Tim Macrow (Tim Macrow Racing), the other Gold Star hopeful in the field, who subsequently clocked a 1:25.5897s.
Randle ended up fifth on combined times and fourth in Practice 2 with a 1:25.6252s after a mid-session red flag.
It was the Tickford Racing Supercars driver who caused that halt in proceedings having stopped in Sector 1 of the race track, although he was able to drive Car #49 back to pit lane.
Golding was only seventh in the latter session with a 1:25.7153s in the #31 Garry Rogers Motorsport entry.
The final Qualifying session of the season takes place this evening from 17:25 local time/AEST.
Results: Practice 1
| Pos | Num | Team/Sponsor | Driver | Fastest lap | Split |
| 1 | 31 | Team Valvoline GRM | James Golding | 1:25.0876 | |
| 2 | 27 | ALABAR/FORM700 Team BRM | Joey Mawson | 1:25.1533 | 0:00.0657 |
| 3 | 96 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Luis Leeds | 1:25.6180 | 0:00.5304 |
| 4 | 23 | UCS Group Racing TMR | Tim Macrow | 1:25.9797 | 0:00.8921 |
| 5 | 29 | Team Valvoline GRM | Nathan Herne | 1:26.1790 | 0:01.0914 |
| 6 | 49 | Castrol Team ALABAR /Form700 | Thomas Randle | 1:26.3923 | 0:01.3047 |
| 7 | 15 | Team BRM | Kaleb Ngatoa | 1:26.5668 | 0:01.4792 |
| 8 | 92 | Modena Engineering | Ricky Capo | 1:26.7541 | 0:01.6665 |
| 9 | 88 | ACMFinance.com Racing | Cooper Webster | 1:28.3547 | 0:03.2671 |
| 10 | 89 | Willmington Racing | Braydan Willmington | 1:29.8939 | 0:04.8063 |
Results: Practice 2
| Pos | Num | Team/Sponsor | Driver | Fastest lap | Split |
| 1 | 27 | ALABAR/FORM700 Team BRM | Joey Mawson | 1:25.1871 | |
| 2 | 96 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Luis Leeds | 1:25.2599 | 0:00.0728 |
| 3 | 23 | UCS Group Racing TMR | Tim Macrow | 1:25.5897 | 0:00.4026 |
| 4 | 49 | Castrol Team ALABAR /Form700 | Thomas Randle | 1:25.6252 | 0:00.4381 |
| 5 | 15 | Team BRM | Kaleb Ngatoa | 1:25.6580 | 0:00.4709 |
| 6 | 92 | Modena Engineering | Ricky Capo | 1:25.6916 | 0:00.5045 |
| 7 | 31 | Team Valvoline GRM | James Golding | 1:25.7153 | 0:00.5282 |
| 8 | 29 | Team Valvoline GRM | Nathan Herne | 1:26.1008 | 0:00.9137 |
| 9 | 88 | ACMFinance.com Racing | Cooper Webster | 1:28.0908 | 0:02.9037 |
| 10 | 89 | Willmington Racing | Braydan Willmington | 1:28.2556 | 0:03.0685 |
