Courtney and Burgess see 2010 DJR comparisons

Mobil 1 HSV Racing team manager Adrian Burgess and driver James Courtney admit the underdog status of the reborn team reminds them of their successful championship campaign at Dick Johnson Racing.

With Holden withdrawing its factory support from the Walkinshaw Racing squad, the pair see similarities in the two squads having points to prove.

The duo combined at the Queensland outfit in 2010 to successfully defeat Triple Eight and Jamie Whincup and break the powerhouse squad’s streak of championship successes.

“I won’t lie; I feel like we’re building something like we built in 2010, but it’s not that easy.” Burgess told Supercars.com.

“At DJR we knew we had one shot at it and everyone pulled together and there was a fantastic group of people that year and James more than played his part.

“But you did feel a little bit of a groundswell around the team. It was a bit of an underdog knocking off the big guns. I’d like to think we’ve got that culture and team spirit at Walkinshaw.

“I can tell you if we get a sniff of it, we’ll be taking it. Once you start winning again on a more regular basis, it just breeds that extra bit of motivation, commitment and culture within the team.

“I know the factory-based guys and the travelling crew are excited and want that and I know they’ll all step up to the plate if we get ourselves in a position to challenge.

“It’s easy talking about it, but we need to shut up and deliver.

“We need to iron out some of the underperformances at some rounds, but we usually go well at the big rounds.”

Courtney beat Whincup and Mark Winterbottom in the final event of 2010 and admits the situation between his current team reminds him of his sole championship-winning season.

“I suppose it does, but for very different reasons as then,” he told Supercars.com.

“We’re not afraid of getting in the mud and fighting for it. It’s probably the times when you lift and definitely we’ve all got the fighting spirit and determination.

“Not only myself, the group and the way it is, but with Scott (Pye) coming on board, it seems to be a little bit criticised, filling a big set of shoes from Garth.

“But he’s determined to prove his worth and to show that they didn’t make the wrong decision and prove the haters wrong. On both sides of the garage there’s a bit of determination to make this.”