James Courtney
James Courtney was born on the 29th of June 1980 in Sydney, New South Wales. He is an Australian racing driver who competes in the V8 Supercar Championship. He is the current Australian Touring Car Champion after winning the 2010 title for Jim Beam Racing.
Courtney has raced and was successful in several other categories, most of which are regarded as the stepping stones to Formula 1. He was World Junior Karting Champion in 1995 and world Formula A Champion in 1997.[2] He was British Formula Ford champion in 2000 and broke the record for winning the most Formula Ford races in one season. He drove for the Jaguar Junior Formula Three team in 2001, impressively winning his first F3 race on his F3 debut. He was also a test driver for Jaguar's Formula One team. Injuries from a high-speed test crash at Monza in 2002, due to failure of the rear wing on the Jaguar F1 car, led to him missing some races in that year's British Formula Three Championship so he could not win the title - although he was easily leading it at that stage. In 2003, he was All-Japan Formula Three champion for the TOM'S team.[3][4] In 2004 and 2005 he raced in the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship for Toyota.
Courtney is managed by BTCC/TOCA boss Alan J. Gow, who was instrumental in his European open-wheeler career leading to his testing role with Jaguar Racing. He appeared in the 2007 season of Dancing with the Stars, on the Seven Network.
Courtney is married and has a daughter named Zara, and a younger son named Cadel, was born with a twin sister, and resides near the Gold Coast, Queensland. He has done so since driving for Stone Brothers Racing in 2006. He is an enthusiast of quality watches, an avid cyclist, and currently drives a Range Rover.
James Courtney debuted in V8 Supercars in 2005 with the Holden Racing Team in the endurance races with co-driving with Jim Richards but enjoyed limited success.
In 2006, he joined Ford team Stone Brothers Racing to replace two time champion Marcos Ambrose. He crashed the car on debut in Adelaide but recovered to finished third in the 2006 Bathurst 1000 and followed it up with a second place in the 2007 Bathurst 1000. On 19 July 2008 Courtney collected his first V8 Supercar race win, taking out race one of the City of Ipswich 400 at Queensland Raceway. He finished the year sixth in the championship.
In 2009, he switched to Dick Johnson Racing. He was given a brand new Triple Eight Race Engineering built Ford FG Falcon and was regarded by many as a serious threat for the title. This came undone at the start of the year, with an accident marred start to the season. Courtney took wins at the new tracks, Townsville and Sydney and finish the year in seventh.
In 2010, Courtney his best season to date, with podiums at Adelaide, Melbourne GP and Hamilton, and five race wins; two each at Queensland Raceway and Winton, and one at Sandown. He won the 2010 V8 Supercar Championship Series, ahead of 2009 V8 Supercar champion Jamie Whincup. It marks the first time in 15 years that a Dick Johnson Racing entry has won the championship. In the immediate post-season however Courtney signed a deal to leave the team and join the Holden Racing Team.
Courtney has raced and was successful in several other categories, most of which are regarded as the stepping stones to Formula 1. He was World Junior Karting Champion in 1995 and world Formula A Champion in 1997.[2] He was British Formula Ford champion in 2000 and broke the record for winning the most Formula Ford races in one season. He drove for the Jaguar Junior Formula Three team in 2001, impressively winning his first F3 race on his F3 debut. He was also a test driver for Jaguar's Formula One team. Injuries from a high-speed test crash at Monza in 2002, due to failure of the rear wing on the Jaguar F1 car, led to him missing some races in that year's British Formula Three Championship so he could not win the title - although he was easily leading it at that stage. In 2003, he was All-Japan Formula Three champion for the TOM'S team.[3][4] In 2004 and 2005 he raced in the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship for Toyota.
Courtney is managed by BTCC/TOCA boss Alan J. Gow, who was instrumental in his European open-wheeler career leading to his testing role with Jaguar Racing. He appeared in the 2007 season of Dancing with the Stars, on the Seven Network.
Courtney is married and has a daughter named Zara, and a younger son named Cadel, was born with a twin sister, and resides near the Gold Coast, Queensland. He has done so since driving for Stone Brothers Racing in 2006. He is an enthusiast of quality watches, an avid cyclist, and currently drives a Range Rover.
James Courtney debuted in V8 Supercars in 2005 with the Holden Racing Team in the endurance races with co-driving with Jim Richards but enjoyed limited success.
In 2006, he joined Ford team Stone Brothers Racing to replace two time champion Marcos Ambrose. He crashed the car on debut in Adelaide but recovered to finished third in the 2006 Bathurst 1000 and followed it up with a second place in the 2007 Bathurst 1000. On 19 July 2008 Courtney collected his first V8 Supercar race win, taking out race one of the City of Ipswich 400 at Queensland Raceway. He finished the year sixth in the championship.
In 2009, he switched to Dick Johnson Racing. He was given a brand new Triple Eight Race Engineering built Ford FG Falcon and was regarded by many as a serious threat for the title. This came undone at the start of the year, with an accident marred start to the season. Courtney took wins at the new tracks, Townsville and Sydney and finish the year in seventh.
In 2010, Courtney his best season to date, with podiums at Adelaide, Melbourne GP and Hamilton, and five race wins; two each at Queensland Raceway and Winton, and one at Sandown. He won the 2010 V8 Supercar Championship Series, ahead of 2009 V8 Supercar champion Jamie Whincup. It marks the first time in 15 years that a Dick Johnson Racing entry has won the championship. In the immediate post-season however Courtney signed a deal to leave the team and join the Holden Racing Team.
