Five reasons to be excited for Courtney/Tickford

Seven days ago, James Courtney was announced to join Tickford Racing for the remainder of the 2020 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship.

WATCH: COURTNEY ANNOUNCES TICKFORD DEAL

It was a lifeline – and a fine one at that – for the 39-year-old who left Team Sydney shortly after the season-opening Superloop Adelaide 500.  

Having had time to let the news sink in, Supercars.com looks at five reasons for fans to be excited about Supercars’ newest partnership.

Courtney reunited with Ford

It’s well known that Courtney’s last time in a Ford Supercar was the Homebush round where he sealed the 2010 title in a thriller, edging Jamie Whincup and Mark Winterbottom.

Courtney’s first five full-time Supercars seasons were with the Blue Oval, the first three at Stone Brothers Racing – where he was Marcos Ambrose’s replacement – before joining Dick Johnson Racing.

His Ford record includes eight race wins and a further 25 podium finishes.

And what better time to rejoin the Ford fold given its resurgence in recent seasons headlined by Scott McLaughlin taking the last two drivers’ titles.

Back in competitive machinery

Courtney’s nine-year tenure at Walkinshaw Andretti United certainly had some high points, but in reality they were probably too few and far between.

Only once in that time did he finish better than 10th in the championship, although there were a couple of extenuating circumstances like his 2015 injury caused by debris flung by a low-flying helicopter.

His last win came more than four years ago and 2017 was a particular low point in a car that was among the worst on the grid.

Courtney’s move to Team Sydney didn’t spark much better fortunes at Adelaide this year but his opportunity is now.

The Tickford fleet of Mustangs looked exceptionally quick in the early stages of this year and unless something has gone horribly wrong since, they should be a genuine contender for victories throughout the season.

Grid retains its quality and quantity

It was a massive shame for Will Davison and Phil Munday to lose out, but Boost Mobile’s move to step up and support Courtney at Tickford means 24 cars will still be on the grid when racing resumes at Sydney Motorsport Park on June 27-28.

That’s a win, and so is the fact that one proven driver has been replaced by another.

Courtney’s return means there are six champions on the full-time grid: Jamie Whincup, McLaughlin, Shane van Gisbergen, Mark Winterbottom, Rick Kelly and Courtney.

Come endurance season, however exactly that looks, and you can add Garth Tander and Craig Lowndes to that mix.

Courtney/Perkins back together?

This by no means is confirmed but it would be cool to see Courtney and Jack Perkins paired up again for the PIRTEK Enduro Cup.

The duo are close mates with a long history, Perkins’ father Larry having helped Courtney during his younger racing years.

They teamed up for the past five years – winning the Gold Coast 600 together in 2015 and taking a Bathurst podium last October – before going their separate ways in the off-season.

While Courtney headed to Team Sydney, Perkins moved to 23Red Racing under the Tickford banner…and Courtney has since publicly spoken of his desire to re-link with the Eggleston Motorsport Super2 veteran.

Courtney vs Waters

Moving into a competitive four-car squad inevitably sets up some interesting teammate comparisons.

Lee Holdsworth was superb through the back half of 2019 and Jack Le Brocq made a solid team debut at Adelaide, but it was Davison and Cameron Waters who had been leading the way on the track in 2020.

Davison was top six in every test, practice, qualifying and race session and Waters was just about right there with him – not to mention the latter’s Adelaide podium.

The 2015 Dunlop Super2 Series winner, the highly rated Waters has been mooted as Tickford’s new spearhead since the departures of Winterbottom and Chaz Mostert.

How Courtney matches up against the 25-year-old from Mildura will be intriguing to keep an eye on.