Golding was stung with a five-second penalty for tipping then-race leader Murray into a spin at Griffins Bend.
It ultimately cost the PremiAir Racing crew victory, which instead went the way of Grove Racing’s Matt Payne and Garth Tander. Golding and co-driver David Russell wound up third behind Team 18 duo David Reynold and Lee Holdsworth and just ahead of Murray and his co-driver Jobe Stewart.
“I’m pretty pissed off for Jimmy,” van Gisbergen said on Rusty’s Garage.
“I thought his pass was good and pretty unfair he got the five-second penalty.
“I thought Cooper just turned down, whether he was unaware or he was trying to protect position, I’m not sure, but I’m very gutted for James.
“I don’t think that should have been a penalty.”
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There has been some conjecture over the incident since then. Murray said the move was “never on” and that a harsher penalty was warranted.
“Jimmy was never going to make that corner. Unfortunately I was a bystander in that,” the Erebus Motorsport driver told Supercars.
“I also don’t think five seconds was good enough of a penalty for the outcome.”
Triple Eight’s Will Brown said he didn’t believe it deserved to be penalised and that sentiment was shared by his Lucky Dogs co-host Brodie Kostecki of Dick Johnson Racing.
“Yeah there was overlap, but sufficient overlap,” said Kostecki.
“It’s for the biggest race of the year — and that’s not an excuse and it’s not a way to I guess [adjudicate] the race — but I don’t know how we can allow some things and not that.”
Brown added: “People say it’s not okay because it’s the biggest race of the year, but I nearly think it is.
“It’s the biggest race of the year, you’ve got to let some small things go, and I didn’t think it was that bad. He had overlap.
“Cooper didn’t just leave him room, Cooper could see he was coming up the inside, and a lot of the time you leave a little bit of room. He’s racing for the biggest race of the year.”
In a post-race explaination, driving standards advisor Craig Baird said an aerial view of the clash showed Golding did not have sufficient overlap with Murray.
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MATT PAYNE TAKES THE LEAD!!!!!#RepcoSC #Supercars #Bathurst1000 pic.twitter.com/hF1B2dreQu
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While he was a keen observer from the other side of the planet, van Gisbergen conceded that he has not been as interested in Supercars this year.
He said Supercars dodged a bullet this year with the pre-race parity squabbles that transpired in the days leading up to the rain-affected contest.
“I haven’t really been engaged this year like I was last year, but obviously I watched Bathurst again,” he said.
“I would say they’re glad it rained after all the shit in the lead up. It saved them from a lot and they had a pretty good race in the end and the race was amazing.”
Van Gisbergen took half a swipe at Supercars, affirming his view that moving to the United States to race in NASCAR was the right call, despite missing home.
He said the recent parity saga only validated his decision to move.
“It’s been amazing. I miss home, I miss being so far from New Zealand. It’s pretty shitty, but I get to spend time there,” he said.
“Lots of friends come over and hang out and come to races, so it’s been okay.
“The racing, I really, really needed the change and I love it.
“The last two years have been awesome, especially reading all that crap on Thursday and Friday at Bathurst, I’m really happy I’m here.”
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