A Supercars champion, multiple race winner, legend of the sport, and now a TV pundit, James Courtney will be out to break his Bathurst duck alongside 2017 winner David Reynolds.
James Courtney swaps a microphone for a steering wheel in the Ryco Enduro Cup, reuniting with Charlie Schwerkolt as he chases his first Bathurst win.
His combination with David Reynolds is one of the most experienced, but it will also be one of the fastest and most formidable around the mountain.
Courtney was the experienced hand helping build Blanchard Racing Team into a genuine two-car team across the last two seasons, claiming an emotional podium in Perth to highlight his farewell season.
Courtney’s list of achievements before joining Supercars is impressive, with two world karting championships, British and European Formula Ford titles, and a Formula 1 testing role with Jaguar.
When that chapter of his career ended, not aided by a high-speed F1 testing crash at Monza, Courtney moved to Japan to win the 2003 Japanese Formula 3 title and then shift to Super GT.
His versatility caught the attention of the then-Holden Racing Team, which signed him as an endurance driver alongside legend Jim Richards in 2005.
Stone Brothers Racing picked Courtney to replace the NASCAR-bound Marcos Ambrose for 2006, and he would finish on the Bathurst podium and secure the Mike Kable Young Gun Award with 11th in the standings.
He took his maiden victory with SBR at Queensland Raceway in 2008 and moved to Dick Johnson Racing the following season.
2010 was Courtney's crowning glory, one of the ultimate David vs Goliath performances as he beat Jamie Whincup and Triple Eight in a head-to-head title battle.
He was then brought back into the HRT fold for 2011, and remained a faithful servant at Walkinshaw through to 2019, despite tough times when Holden funding moved to Triple Eight in 2017.
A best of 6th in 2014 was bookended by injury-impacted seasons in 2013 and 2015, following an accident at Phillip Island and a freak pit lane incident at Sydney respectively.
After nine years of trying to revive the Walkinshaw organisation’s glory days, Courtney headed into 2020 carrying a new challenge.
The 2010 Supercars champion was announced as the face of the Team Sydney project, linking him back to team owner Jonathon Webb - his former Stone Brothers Racing and Dick Johnson Racing stablemate.
However, Courtney elected to depart the squad after just one event, leaving his next step uncertain - until a plum drive arose at Tickford Racing following the coronavirus-related exit of 23Red Racing.
Remarkably, he didn’t miss a single race by the time the championship resumed.
It was Courtney's first Ford drive since that 2010 campaign, and he returned to the podium in Darwin, remaining with Tickford until the end of 2023, when he joined BRT.