The Super2 regular is preparing for a wildcard start at the Townsville 500 next month before teaming up with Thomas Randle in the #55 Castrol Ford in the Enduro Cup.
Goodall strapped into the #5 wildcard Mustang – which is the chassis Randle had been racing up until Symmons Plains – on Monday for his single wildcard test day.
Morning and midday rain meant Goodall spent much of the test circulating in damp conditions, clocking an estimated 20 dry laps.
Regardless, it was the 22-year-old’s first significant Gen3 running following earlier hitouts at ride days and a brief steer at the pre-season Sydney test.
“It was great to jump on a good quality tyre and to run on the soft for the first time, seeing how that activates and also drops off,” Goodall told Speedcafe.
“Obviously it would have been good if some of the rain had kept away, but I think the fact we tested at The Bend was a bit of an advantage in itself.
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“That’s for me [ahead of The Bend 500 in September] and for Tickford. Hopefully we made a few inroads on setup for the team.”
Tickford dispatched key members of its brains trust to the test, including Cam Waters’ race engineer Sam Potter and the team’s performance engineer Rafał Pokora-Lewandowski.
They were joined by Super2 engineers Brendan Hogan, Bayden Charlton and Wayne Bourke, while mentor Mark Winterbottom also made the trek to the South Aussie venue.
“We had five very talented engineers there who were probably a little disappointed in the weather, we didn’t get through as much as we wanted in terms of setup,” Goodall admitted.
“But it was still definitely positive to have everyone there. [Frosty] was good for keeping my head in the groove whilst we were going through the wet-dry-wet-dry track.”
Goodall expects Townsville will be “extremely difficult” but takes encouragement from his form against the current crop of Supercars rookies.
“Looking at a couple of other rookies that I raced against last year in Super2, I beat a lot of them,” he said, having finished ahead of Jobe Stewart, Zach Bates and Jackson Walls in the 2025 standings.
“But obviously we were very strong as a team last year and I’m conscious that it’s taken some of those guys time to get up to speed.
“To have to work it out in one weekend is a lot of pressure, but if I had a race where I was top 15 I’d be over the moon. Top 10 I’d be even happier.
“Really it’s about getting experience in that car for the enduro season. Even if it’s a terrible weekend and you struggle, at least you’ve done good mileage.”
Goodall’s bigger picture goal is a full-time graduation to the main game next year.
The Adelaide-based mortgage broker is currently in his third season of Super2 and second with Tickford, finishing fourth in the 2025 standings.
Tickford has both Randle and Waters signed through to the end of 2027, meaning Goodall will have to look elsewhere for an opportunity.
“It’s a tough driver market with a lot of rookies going in last year,” he said of his prospects.
“The driver market is very difficult at the moment, there’s obviously some good drivers in Super2 who are also trying to knock their way into the main game full-time.
“I’m doing the best I can, trying to put my best foot forward and trying to win as many races as I can to prove to the main game teams that I’m a valuable candidate.”
Supercars returns on June 19-21 at Hidden Valley for the betr Darwin Triple Crown, where Goodall will be in action in the Super2 Series.
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