Rusty's Garage Mar 11, 2026

James Golding & Aaron Cameron | Part 1 - The Blanchard Racing Team pairing join us in studio

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Concept

go-kart team

A go-kart team is a group of people who race small, fast cars called go-karts. It's like a fun and competitive way to start learning how to race cars.

Concept

karting

Karting means racing small, simple cars called karts. Kids and beginners use karting to learn how to race before moving on to bigger, faster cars.

Concept

Supercars

Supercars is a famous car racing series in Australia where drivers race very fast, specially prepared cars. Many young racers want to compete there.

Term

gearing

Gearing means choosing how the car's gears work together to help it go faster or slower. It helps the car speed up or reach a higher top speed.

Concept

driver coaching

Driver coaching means helping drivers learn how to drive better and win races by teaching them skills and how to think during a race.

Concept

racecraft

Racecraft means knowing how to race smart, like when to pass other cars or block them to keep your place.

Car

Holden Torana L34

The Holden Torana L34 is a sporty Australian car that was made to race in the 1970s. It had special parts to make it faster and handle better on the track.

Concept

motorsport

Motorsport means racing cars or motorcycles in competitions. People race to see who is fastest or best at driving.

Concept

club level racing

Club level racing is when people race cars or karts just for fun or competition in local groups, not as professional drivers.

Concept

club championship

A club championship is a competition where racers take part in many races and the best racer over all wins the championship.

Concept

apprenticeship

An apprenticeship is when you learn a job by working with experienced people, getting hands-on training while you work. It's like learning how to fix or build cars by doing it with others.

Term

driveline parts

Driveline parts are the pieces in a car that help move power from the engine to the wheels so the car can go. They include things like the driveshaft and axles.

Concept

Junior Top Carts

Junior Top Carts is a type of kart race just for kids and young racers. It's a way for them to start racing and have fun.

Concept

Formula 4

Formula 4 is a type of race with small, fast cars that young drivers race in after karting. It's like the next step to become a professional race car driver.

Car

Formula Ford

Formula Ford cars are small race cars that people use to learn how to race. They are simple and help drivers get better before moving on to faster cars.

Concept

TCR

TCR is a type of car racing where cars that look like regular street cars race on tracks. The rules make sure the cars are similar so the races are fair and exciting.

Concept

S5000

S5000 is a type of car race in Australia with very fast single-seat race cars that look like old Formula cars.

Concept

Formula Forward

Formula Forward is a type of car racing where young drivers compete to get better and move up to big races like IndyCar or Formula 1.

Concept

Super 2

Super 2 is a racing series in Australia where new drivers learn and get ready to race in the main Supercars competition.

Concept

IndyCar

IndyCar is a popular car racing series in the United States where fast, single-seat cars race on different tracks including ovals and road courses.

Concept

USF 2000

USF 2000 is a beginner racing series in the U.S. where drivers start their careers to eventually race in bigger competitions like IndyCar.

Term

qualifying session

Before a race, drivers try to drive the fastest lap they can to decide who starts at the front. This time is set during the qualifying session.

Concept

Bathurst

Bathurst is a famous race track in Australia where big car races happen, known for being very challenging.

Concept

Trans Am

Trans Am is a car racing series where drivers race muscle and sports cars on tracks. It's a way for drivers to practice and race without spending as much money as in some other series.

Term

brakes

Brakes help a car slow down or stop. In racing, if brakes get too hot, they don't work well, so drivers have to be careful how they use them.

Term

right hand drive

Right hand drive means the steering wheel is on the right side of the car instead of the left. This is normal in some countries and changes how the car is driven.

Term

tyre pressure

Tyre pressure means how much air is inside a tire. If it's too high or too low, the car won't drive as well. Racers adjust it to make their car go faster and handle better.

LIVE

A listener production.

I'm automotive commentator and journalist Greg Rust and this is Rusty's Garage.

Hi everybody and welcome to our latest feature ep of Rusty's Garage.

For this one I've bent the rules or broken the mould a little as they say.

I was originally going to interview Aaron Cameron from the Blanchard Racing team, one-on-one as we traditionally do.

But then Mitch Britton, the team's commercial manager, called and said,

Hey, what if we bring both drivers in and make it a longer convo on their careers and the recent success the team has enjoyed and more?

I didn't overthink it, which I'm probably a bit prone to doing and I'm pleased that I just went with his recommendations.

So Jimmy Golding is joining us too.

We all sat round our Melbourne Listeners Studios, the three of us.

It's a great chat as you'll hear from their respective paths that they took in their motorsport journeys early on.

The race cars in the Cameron Family Garage.

Has he driven them?

The roles both of them had beyond the driving at Gary Rogers Motorsport.

Nicknames, DJing skills. Does any of that even correlate to motorsport?

Jimmy's bath as podium and how he feels about the 2025 race with some time to look back on it now.

The turning point for Aaron at BRT and how much Golding is enjoying his new home.

Plus, Aaron shares an inspiring story on his dad and his mum for that matter really.

Keep an ear out for that or an eye out for it if you're watching us on YouTube.

Hope you enjoy the conversation.

Hello, you too. Where have you been before?

Let's look at the DJ here on the buttons already.

What are you doing? Adjusting volume?

Yeah, it's not going down.

It's not going down? Do you want me to adjust the volume for you?

Is it too loud?

Yeah, it gives the depth.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5. This is the James Golding. You found it?

This one.

You're happy?

I'll just stick to my expertise. I'll just have some water.

There's a lot of good kit outside that you would probably like to tinker with.

Yeah.

Old DJ, Jimmy.

Few buttons.

There's never enough buttons.

Never enough buttons. When did you develop that kind of passion that love for them?

It was in COVID.

Was it?

Stuck at home, yeah.

Just tinkering? Like just mucking around?

Yeah, well, I sort of just wanted to do it fun. We just still do it fun.

But a little bit more seriously.

Same as racing, I suppose. Starts off as fun, doesn't it?

Don't underplay that. You start off as fun. It starts off as fun.

And now it's not fun.

You guys are having a great run.

Actually, on the DJ thing, you DJed an after party at Darwin last year and stuff like that.

I know in these moments when we're doing podcast stuff that you prefer to talk racing, obviously,

but you clearly do get a lot of enjoyment out of that, don't you?

Yeah, it's good to have another outlet, something you can also focus and get better on.

It's actually got a lot of similarities to racing, which people probably wouldn't think about,

but the timing and decision making and all that sort of stuff,

obviously, when you're mixing tracks, you've only got so long on plays for,

so you've got to pick the next track in time.

That depends how you do it, but that's how I like to do it.

I have a big playlist with heaps of tracks and just pick on the fly

and you've got to pick the right track that everyone wants to hear.

Now, in MCing, when you're learning a bit of that stuff,

they teach you about reading the room and stuff, too.

You have to do a bit of that, don't you? What music resonates?

Yeah, definitely. I mean, places that I play at, it's kind of a bit more...

You know, you sort of know the crowd, so it makes it easier.

What's the go-to at the moment? Have you got go-to tunes at the moment or artists?

Oh, not really. I've got a pretty big library.

But yeah, we've been making a few tunes recently, so on the Don't Think Spotify,

look that up, don't think.

Don't think, okay.

Don't think, just look it up.

Have you got a hidden superpower like that?

Do you get subjected to this in the car on the way to the track?

Yeah, it's been a big learning process.

I'd say this year, me and J.C. used to just put on whatever music,

and this year's Jimmy's constantly changing the song.

He's got to find the right vibe of the song, what he wants.

So, no, it's a big change.

And there's something I don't care about, not offense Jimmy,

but yeah, that's his domain, and he can be the car.

So what's your outlet then? What's your thing?

Do you have one? Do you have time for one?

I don't probably say I do, really.

I mean, I've got the little go-kart team that I do.

There's nothing else you do that's not motorsport.

I go mountain bike riding, love that.

Oh, there you go.

Yeah, so I do a fair bit of that, like, all the time.

So I think me and Maddie Payne ride the same track

in Listerfield there.

But not together.

Not together.

I sort of brought it up, and he quietly declined to go riding with me,

so he must say,

No, I'm fully okay with that, because I reckon he'd be a beast on the bike.

I just like to just slowly, gently go down and try not die each time.

For people that don't know, tell them more about the karting side things.

Obviously, you have a background in that now you're playing in that spice a little bit.

Yeah, the karting stuff just sort of happened before.

I got the Supercar main game driver.

Just one car chop sort of closed down,

and then there's a few customers that all sort of wanted to have someone run a team.

And yeah, just do another guy, Cooper,

and it's fully Victorian state-based stuff,

and I just have so much fun just going on the car tracks,

trying to teach kids the basics,

and really focused on not spending heaps of money at karting level,

because it's so early in your motorsport career.

It's easy to spend so much money now,

trying to get them to understand that you need it all for a lot later.

It only gets more expensive.

And now I'm just trying to help a few of those kids,

trying to get them on a path to Supercars or wherever they want to go

without spending millions of dollars.

That's my priority.

How much of that is you with advice around gearing, whatever,

and how much of it is kind of driver coaching?

I'd say we vary across all of that,

but probably not heaps of the setup, gearing sort of stuff.

I try and focus on mindset of racing,

of like when you should and shouldn't make a pass,

and what to do at starts, when to block, when not to block,

and it's probably like we'll probably get to at some point

my incident with Brody at Sydney,

where my mindset's so much about thinking,

and trying to think ahead and prevent things from happening,

and obviously I learn a lot from that incident in Sydney,

but trying to help these kids understand what's going on in the races.

You don't always have to be the fastest car on the track.

Do you sort of learn, think the mindset stuff,

and that's open to you as well.

Amanda, do you subscribe to a bit of that?

Yeah, I'm subscribed to Aaron's tips there.

Obviously I should probably take note

after you bet me off the line at Sydney.

I think it's something you're constantly learning and adapting.

It's always going to be different as well,

like you can't go, I just got to do that every time,

because you're always in new situations

where actually it's a bit of a different scenario

with how the track went or it was a similar corner

as a couple of rounds ago, same thing side by side,

but this one you can't stay around the outside

because it's too slippery.

So yeah, you're constantly learning and getting better at that.

I think that's probably the biggest thing that changes in racing, I reckon.

That and also learning the set up stuff with the car

and getting better at that with feedback.

You're still immensely young at heart, mate,

but you turned 30, I think, if I'm right in January.

Don't say it too loud.

No, I'm not.

To me it's just a number.

How different is James Golding now to when James Golding

kind of first started out as a racer

and in that mindset stuff that you're talking about?

Yeah, a lot different.

I wish, as a lot of people would say,

I knew what I know now back then.

But yeah, I'd say that's probably the biggest difference.

I think a lot of us obviously to get to the top level

have got the skill to do it,

but it's all those other bits and pieces,

the in-betweens working with the team.

All that mindset stuff Aaron's talking about

is what makes a difference?

The early days, can I come to a little bit of that

for both of you and feel free to dive in here?

For you, I think the family

have got a bit of history.

Your mum raced some cool stuff.

Was it Taranas and things? What was she driving?

I'm trying to remember.

Yeah, she was in the historic group CNA stuff.

She raced the L34 Tarana

and another family friend raced out

in an ex-Tarana.

Big involvement back then and that

and that's how I got my start

in learning about motorsport.

Can you remember that?

I remember some early parts

and she had quite a big crash in an ex-U1 back then

which was quite a scary time

when she broke her wrist and I realised motorsport

doesn't actually have some risk to it

which probably intrigued me a bit more.

That was the first part

of getting involved and seeing what it's all about.

Living the dream now.

You two have got a cheeky way about you with that.

There's always a bit of underline.

What about... I actually don't know with you

my old boss David White shared

that you were both involved

in that lovely Gary Rogers tribute pod

that I did last year.

He reminded me about a great story

of you being on a train

as a teenager and making your way

into Gary Rogers motorsport

and doing the hard yards.

How did it all kick off for you?

Yeah, well going back

into karting

I think it really started when my cousins

they were racing just at like

club level. We went to watch them.

Dad and I and then

he asked if I wanted to give it a go

and then got a couple of karts, got into it.

Then my sister started as well, not too long after

and then my mum even raced as well

so all four of us were racing

one of the years at the club championship

they made up like a ladies class

for all the wives and girlfriends so mum went in that.

Poor stress for Dad on the hip pocket.

Shared the same kart, they were bolt

and lead on and off so they had different weights

for each class anyway. And then that year

we were all literally lined up

to win the club championship

Dad in over 40s or sister in junior national

anyway. And

before the last round

my mum actually fractured

her rib in the go kart

and she couldn't race the last round

so she did like D&S

or D&S everything.

No points, still finished second

and all the rest of us won the championship

so we all would have won it

but yeah I don't let her live it down now.

I'll say surely you could have just dealt with the pain.

And what transition from there

for you in terms of ultimately

I mean there's been a bit of formula forward in there

and what have you but leading into

Gary's mate how did

the introduction to GRM come about

and all that sort of stuff.

Yeah there was a bit of

sort of coming in from both directions

to get in there.

I actually knew Scotty McLaughlin

already mates with him

for a go karting. And then

also happened to be

my next door neighbour

his dad or his

grandfather was like best

mates with Gary. Just like

coincidentally that we'd grown up next to

So you leverage that.

Yeah so I actually started an

apprenticeship working for Ballans

in the Formula Forward team

just wanted to learn more about the cars and stuff

to help with my driving and then

only a few months into that basically

I got the gig at GRM and

continued my apprenticeship there and

yeah I didn't have a licence back then

so I was only 17 and just rode

my bike to the train station. Trained from Morrigal

down to Deane Young South

back on the bike. Rain Halishon

I was getting drenched by trucks in the middle of winter

and everything. You name it.

What were you doing, I can't remember what you were doing

because he always gave everybody a job

in the workshop. Was it fabrication? Where were you?

I was in sub-assembly.

So all the driveline parts up right

You used to handy? Like if someone said

to you today can you give us a hand at BRT

Yeah I don't

want to interrupt any of the boys

they've all got their jobs and

I'll leave them to it but if

anyone's stuck I can definitely give you a hand.

Coming back to the karting stuff I think you're about

age 11, Oakley did

dad take you out and you were more or less hooked

from there, what happened? Yeah we went and watched

the Junior Top Carts, big like

Junior's only event at the start of the year and

What year was that? 2011

Were you racing? Yeah it's the year I won the

National. So I was like

I wouldn't have been watching Jimmy Golding

and then I was like I was just hooked

from there I was like I love it and

That was my last year in kart. Was it?

Now I went to Formula 4 the year after.

It led to like literally a week later

I think there was a kart in the driveway or something

I can't remember the exact timeline

but pretty soon we got a kart after that and then

next minute we were you know hooked

just at the track every weekend and just

cut and lapse and trying to really

get home the craft and catch up

because a lot of kids started at 7

or 8 and I'm already 3-4 years behind so

we had a lot of work to do

early on there. Did it come naturally

as they say? Was there a

phase of hard?

There would have been a phase at the start where I was

just absolutely useless I can guarantee that but

it must have come pretty naturally because

I remember

like after

the first like second year in we were already winning

the club championship stuff

at Todd Road so yeah just

yeah had an absolute that was the most fun times

that's what I tell the kids in the kart team now

telling us the most fun you'll ever have after that

it just gets a whole lot more expensive

and a whole lot more pressure so enjoy it

whilst it lasts. Something happens here around

like year 11 and you have

a serious conversation with mum and dad like

I'm done I want to go racing

this I don't forget school kind of thing

was it along those lines?

Yeah I wasn't very that good at school I wasn't very

interested so at the end of year 11

I pretty much just said to them that I have no

interest in going to university or

doing any further education

racing is what I want to do

so like I don't

there's no point doing year 12 I'm just going to go there

and if you want me to pass I'll pass but I'm not getting an ATAR

I'm not going to uni so

You got further than me I only did year 10

I look good here

but don't you reckon that's a great

for all the kids that are listening don't you reckon that's a great thing

like I'm self taught when it comes to broadcasting

I'm last bastion in that sense I didn't go to uni

or whatever it's not to say that

you wouldn't recommend in some careers

that people should go to uni for what they're doing

I think if you know where you want to go

and you can do it by just getting into it

then just do it. Exactly

but if you're still unsure you may as well just keep going

and learn you know. But the secret to both of you

then is clearly application

tenacity don't die wondering

like get in and give it your absolute all

Yeah that's right I mean the things

you learn first hand practically

with racing especially

karting and all that like

you know you come up through the ranks

and drive with different teams and that

you work with different people and a lot of the people that

have raced themselves or have done

go karting speedway they're all just

so much more doled into

what you're talking about when you're talking about the car

or even just working on the car they just

they just get it and they may have

been like me dropped out of year 10

and they've just been

working on it ever since

No reason you can't succeed

that's the dozen I don't believe it holds you back

I'm happy to cut this out if you

don't want to talk about it so you because it might be quite

a personal thing but

I gather mate your dad is

vision impaired he's quite an inspirational

man from what I can gather with

marathon running around the world this year and stuff

like that can you share and he does

your mum more or less

talking through some of the races and things

is that what happens?

Well obviously I'm racing these days so I don't

exactly know what happens but the general

idea is she's got to talk

through what's happening on the race whether it's

good or bad so you learn

to become quite a good commentator

for the whole man whether it's for me watching

F1 or whatever we're watching so

he's been

an inspiration for me for ages lost

he's had sight and lost it funny enough

once I was born he decided he didn't want to see

anymore so it's slowly got worse from there so

it just got worse and worse

and then he's just gone from

strength to strength I think and in that persistence

in finding what he loves and he was big into his bike

riding, riding bike nationals and

all this stuff and now he's right into his

marathon running trying to do the is it the

seven or eight marathons you do around the world and you get a

special medal in New York and stuff like that he wants

to do all that stuff I think he's done New York he's got a couple more

to do now and I think he's got to do Sydney so

yeah look and

with a guy like that as your dad it's like

yeah things are achievable

yeah exactly I don't have

excuses to not go out and then try and do my best

and everything that I can so

yeah it's a real inspiration for me and I

think everyone around him just makes us all

very accountable and he was

used around your own Formula Fords and stuff too didn't

you yeah he worked he worked on my Formula Ford

so it was it's all in my go-karts

like he ran him we had people help us to

get there but he was mechanically working on

my mole would change the gear ratios in the

Formula Ford we had one time where if you

got to put a washer in in the gearbox and

we learned pretty quickly put that washer

in because there was gears everywhere

but after that we were checking it

and yeah he's he's an incredible

incredible guy I love that

I love that thank you for sharing it people

along the way in your journey are whether it's

parents or whatever are important you've talked about

Gary already what was the first

kind of introduction for both of you like you

talked about the connection and and maybe

you know friends of family and whatever

helping you to get there can you recall

the first kind of meetings there

yeah it would have been at GRM

the interview kind of thing

you were you on the forward foot picking up

the phone can I meet you what ahead did

you don't quite remember that part I think

I just sort of got the interview and then

he was there and you know he's like he's a

pretty forward full-on guy I was pretty

scared the meetings were short often

yeah doesn't last long it's just

that's all it is and off you go kind of thing

so um yeah but

he said a good good precedent

for the whole team and for myself and

yeah the things that I learned there I've definitely

carried on for the rest of my career

Nicknames were for everybody did he give you

Beber or where did that come from

he gave it to me so yeah at the time when I

started my haircut was similar to Justin

B was that hair flick he had going on

and then like a year after

he had the bleach blonde shaved head

but it just stuck and I'm like well I don't

even look like him now

but it sticks and it always

he'd always send me articles of stuff

that he was in the news for

like oh what have you done here

so good

much misty sense of humor can you

remember your early interactions that you

picked up the phone quite early on

didn't you maybe yeah I think it was the

end of no before the first year at TCR

2018 or something or 2019 yeah

started 2019 Roman Cloud called him first

for me and then I spoke to Gary on the phone

and it was the conversation wouldn't

have gone 30 seconds right yeah

would come in for a meeting and it was

just it was just so fast I didn't know

if that was good or bad at the time and

went and had the meeting and again that

probably lasted all of three minutes and

and he didn't have a drive for me anyway

that first year and I planted a seed though mate

and he already knew before that meeting

that he didn't have a drive for me which was

fine but he was just wanted to meet me and

see what I was about and then I come back

the next year and played in my case and

had had a pretty good year and then

probably had four or five of the best years of my life

in TCR and it was just such a fun team

and good vibes

If Aaron and Jimmy's recollections of

working with the late Gary Rogers have struck a chord

About this episode

James Golding and Aaron Cameron from Blanchard Racing Team share insights into their motorsport journeys, early influences, and recent successes. The conversation reveals James's unexpected passion for DJing and how it parallels racing, Aaron’s karting team mentorship, and both drivers’ evolving mindsets on racing strategy and teamwork. They also reflect on their beginnings, family racing backgrounds, and the importance of learning from experiences on and off the track. The episode offers a relaxed, candid look at their careers and personal stories behind the scenes.

apprenticeship Bathurst brakes club championship club level racing driveline parts driver coaching Formula 4 Formula Forward gearing

Holden Torana

Original notes

We’ve built a Feature library that is mainly 1-on-1 convos but we’re breaking the mould with this one….and it was so worth it.

Rusty shoots the breeze with ‘Bieber’ and ‘Camo’ who are reveling in the step forward that BRT has taken in Supercars this year.

How motor racing started for each of them? The race cars in the Cameron family garage and has Aaron had a steer of them?

DJ’ing and why it’s an escape for Jimmy and is there any correlations to his day job.
There’s a heart warming family story Aaron shares too that is truly inspiring.

What it was like at Garry Roger’s Motorsport for both of them and the hard yards they did in that period of their careers.

Enjoy being part of this ripper round table chat and get to know this likeable pair a little better.

Head to Rusty's Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and give us your feedback and let us know who you want to hear from on Rusty's Garage

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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