Representing his home state of NSW during last weekend’s Australian Wingless Sprint Championship at Warrnambool’s Premier Speedway in Victoria, youngster Cody Boulding surprised even himself when he managed to achieve the considerable task of qualifying for the feature race amongst a stout field of 108 drivers.
Hoping just to evade the non-qualifier events on Saturday’s second and final night of competition and do enough to earn an inclusion into one of two C mains, in an effort to improve on last season’s Australian Championship performance at Sydney’s Valvoline Raceway which saw him participate in the E main, the 18-year-old driver got more than he bargained for when he took to the renowned Warrnambool track.
Having previously struggled for grip on slick track conditions so far this season aboard his NSW # 19 Wells Transport backed Triple X car, Boulding and his team decided to make some changes the Australian Championship weekend, which ultimately paid dividends as he not only avoided the non-qualifier events, but secured the final transfer spot out of the B main to earn a transfer place into the feature race.
Starting from the back row (position 23) of the Australian Championship decider, Boulding showed experience beyond his years as he navigated the turbulent feature-race conditions, continuing to make up ground throughout the 40-lap duration to eventually greet the chequered flag in a fighting 16th place.
In doing so, the Yass, NSW resident also recorded the sixth-fastest lap of the feature race with a 14.698 second lap.
“I’m very pleased with how the Australian Championship went for us,” enthused Boulding, who also qualified into one of Friday night’s preliminary feature races, coming home in an impressive ninth place.
“The goal heading into the weekend was to avoid being in the D main, so I really didn’t expect to qualify for the feature race. The team I showed encouraging speed throughout the weekend and after qualifying into the preliminary feature race and finishing inside the top 10 on the Friday night, it gave us the confidence that we had what it took to make the Australian Championship feature race the following night, which was what we managed to do.”
Currently running eighth in the NSW Club Championship, Boulding has been struggling to convert his feature-race qualifications into results; a trend that he’s hoping has now come to an end following his impressive Australian Championship campaign.
For his next appearance, Boulding will be in action this Saturday night at Valvoline Raceway to contest the Peter Craft No Bull 50 Lapper, which will incorporate the 14th NSW Club Championship round.
Boulding would like to thank his 2018-19 season sponsors: Wells Transport, Yass Valley Tyre Centre, and Yass Outdoor Power Centre. He would like to give special thanks to his mum and dad (Terrianne and Jason), his younger brothers (Darcy and Jaidyn), his uncle (Brendan Scorgie), his nan and pop (Cheryl and Terry), and Craig Skene.
