Courtney firmly against calls to change Adelaide's Turn 8

James Courtney has launched an impassioned defence of Adelaide's iconic Turn 8 sweeper amid calls the corner has become too dangerous and requires changes.

Supercars action at the season-ending VAILO Adelaide 500 was headlined by big incidents at the fast right-hander for Richie Stanaway, Cameron Hill, David Reynolds and Jaxon Evans.

In all four crashes, the accident began with the car clipping the Armco barrier on the inside of the corner.

Amid the carnage, Stanaway and Evans were later ruled out due to concussion, with Hill racing through the pain barrier, prompting questions over whether the corner needs to be changed.

Governing body Motorsport Australia is set to review Turn 8 in the wake of the incidents, with opinions split in the paddock. Notably, two-time Adelaide 500 winner Garth Tander has called for changes, while Brad Jones defended the corner, despite the Evans crash costing his team an estimated $200,000.

Courtney, who himself crashed at Turn 8 twice in 2006, in 2016 and 2020, believes the corner epitomises the risk versus reward nature of the circuit.

“Over the years, heaps of guys have hit that inside wall. To change it, or to say now we have to, I think that's crap,” Courtney said on Supercars' Drivers Only podcast.

“We all raced in the Middle East, or at Tailem Bend, when the walls are so far away, you don't get any sense of speed. It's not fun. Like you have a massive moment, you drive off in the grass and come back.

"But [in Adelaide], it's cool when you get punished. Like it's not cool for the teams, but it's such a rush and it's does sort the men from the boys, and over the race to be consistent, and then in those high pressure situations.

“Both of you guys had to able to nail at every lap throughout qualifying, practice, and into the race with all that pressure, it's what this whole championship's all about. And I think if they opened it up or changed it, it would be it would be crap.”

In the Adelaide event's 25-year Supercars history, Turn 8 has gone through multiple iterations, from tyre bundles to barrier alignment, and double barriers and single barriers.

Broc Feeney argued that, should Turn 8 be changed, corners at Bathurst's famous Mount Panorama should also come under similar scrutiny. New Supercars champion Will Brown went a step further, insisting the drivers simply made mistakes: "It's been a big talking point after the weekend, you see fans on Facebook, ‘Oh, they've got to change it, it's so dangerous.

"Well, how many corners do you want to change in motorsport around the world, then? When you go to Adelaide… it’s what makes it exciting.

“There wasn't anything different on the weekend. People just made mistakes.”

The 2025 Supercars season will conclude in Adelaide next November, with the 13-round campaign commencing in Sydney on February 21-23. Tickets are on sale now.