BATHURST'S Nathan Goulding has kept himself right in the hunt for a NSW Historic Touring Car Association Championship Group Nb title following a consistent round's racing at Sydney Motorsport Park over the long weekend.
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Goulding may have given up a little more ground to fellow Mini Cooper driver Alex D'Onofrio - who won all three races across the two days - in the championship but the Bathurst man's triple bronze effort kept the ladder damage to a minimum.
Separating Goulding and D'Onofrio across the fourth round of the championship was another Bathurst driver, Matt Windsor, who was making his first Group Nb appearance this year in his Lotus Cortina.
D'Onofrio extended the margin between himself and Goulding by another four points - the pair now sitting on 70.5 and 63 respectively with three rounds remaining.
Goulding said the addition of Windsor to the grid made for an exciting three-way tussle across the round.
"Matt's Lotus Cortina is a quick little car and it made us work harder. We qualified strongly, sitting third in class next to Matt and I improved my personal best by just on four seconds a lap," he said.
"We came home third in the opening race, and the weekend just went smoothly from there. Alex, in the other quick Mini, won while Matt was second and I was third across the races.
"It was a productive weekend for the point score and the car went really well. Every time I get in it seems to be going faster and faster."
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Conditions varied across the two days of racing and it threw a spanner in the works for teams trying to get the ideal car setup.
However, Goulding and his team handled the weather well.
"On Saturday it was quite cool and foggy and the car really likes that scenario," he said.
"On Sunday it was much warmer and the older vehicles tend to not like that. They lose horsepower and the tyres get hotter so it was a challenging weekend and it allowed us to learn a bit more about the car."
Goulding had a chance to get back some ground during the fourth and final race of the weekend but an extended period behind the safety car (due to fluid on track) saw the race declared a non-event.
D'Onofrio and Goulding sit second and third in the overall standings.
Only Group Nc driver Chris Thomas (75.25) ahead of the Group Nb duo.
Attention now turns towards the fifth round of the championships, which will be held at same venue during the Sydney Muscle Car Masters event held over August 31 and September 1.
The series heads back to Wakefield Park for the penultimate round on October 19 before Sydney Motorsport Park hosts the finale from November 30.