Courtney's tribute to Tickford crew

James Courtney has paid tribute to his Tickford Racing crew following his breakthrough podium.

Courtney was pipped to Race 12 victory by Shane van Gisbergen in Perth.

The 2010 champion was mere laps away from snapping a six-year winless drought.

Van Gisbergen overhauled Courtney, who had gained track position thanks to a bold undercut.

It was Courtney’s third podium with Tickford after Darwin 2020 and Sydney 2021.

On both occasions, Courtney didn’t get to spray champagne.

Courtney embraces engineer Scaffidi

Courtney’s previous champagne effort came on the 2019 Bathurst 1000 podium.

Come Sunday, Courtney made a beeline for his crew and embraced his teammates.

The result came after a podium went begging at Albert Park after late contact with Chaz Mostert.

“It’s always good when you’re spraying it,” he said.

“We’ve had good speed and we’ve had things go wrong; we’ve been close.

“For me it’s cool but for the guys that work on the car... they work crazy hours.

“They put their heart and soul into the thing… they were gutted after [Albert Park].

“To see them all going crazy, it was excellent.”

Courtney explained a shift into new machinery and being linked with engineer Sam Scaffifi was the catalyst for an upturn in form.

The 41-year-old is 10th in the points, just 112 points behind Tickford spearhead Cam Waters.

Courtney admitted the likes of Triple Eight and Dick Johnson Racing are too far out of reach.

However, in laying down the gauntlet to be “best of the rest”, Courtney was adamant Tickford’s best isn’t too far away.

'As a team, we’re lifting as well'

“We’ve had an engineer change, we had a car change as well,” he said.

“A newer car, the same as what [Waters] has got… and me driving the thing for a bit longer as well.

“As a team, we’re lifting as well, trying to get that consistency.

“I think we’re still nowhere near where what these guys [Triple Eight and DJR] are able to achieve.

“At the moment, we have to be best of the rest. If we keep chipping away, we can challenge these guys on a regular basis.”

The 2022 season will resume at Winton on May 21-22.