Meet Australia’s fastest mechanic

MEET the supercar rookie who is his own mechanic.

James Golding, a 22-yearold country boy from Warragul, southeast of Melbourne, has been racing since he was big enough to sit in a go-kart.

After years of proving himself, this season he steps into a thundering 635horsepower supercar.

But the boss still makes the young mechanic work on his own car during the week.

Golding works at Garry Rogers Motorsport in the subassembly department building gearboxes, brakes, axels and hubs.

At the weekend, he races one of GRM’s $500,000 Holden ZB Commodore supercars that those components go into.

Golding’s Commodore will be one of 26 that hit Tasmania this week for round three of the Australian supercars championship at Symmons Plains on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Golding also works on the parts that go into teammate Garth Tander’s car.

Is he tempted to do a better job on his car than on Tander’s ride?

“Sometimes there might be a little bit less grease go into Garth’s car — no, not really,” Golding said.

Golding said becoming a driver in a team headed by Bathurst champion Tander was an advantage.

“Having someone with so much experience, it’s like a whole library you can pick through and get information,” he said.

When he was preparing his own go-kart as a youngster, Golding dreamt of bigger things.

“I’ve always wanted to race professionally,” he said.

“I ended up aiming for supercars because it’s at home in Australia and this is where my family and friends are.”