Courtney credits WAU for BRT's huge turnaround
James Courtney credits WAU for BRT's huge turnaround
Courtney helped BRT to first Supercars podium in Perth
2010 champ backed it up with run to fifth in Darwin opener
A closer working relationship with Walkinshaw Andretti United has steered Blanchard Racing Team rise in form, insists James Courtney.
BRT suffered a terrible start to 2025, parting ways with Aaron Love in Sydney before Courtney crashed out in Melbourne qualifying.
The team hit its lowest point in New Zealand, where Courtney and Aaron Cameron locked out the back row of the grid for all three races. Such was the frustration, that Courtney labelled Taupō the worst weekend the worst weekend of his Supercars career.
In an immediate turnaround, Courtney qualified and finished ninth in the Tasmania opener, before he brought home a stunning maiden podium for BRT in Perth. It rolled on in Darwin, Courtney finishing fifth in the first race.
Courtney said WAU's input post-Taupō have put the team in the right direction, and the results are clear to see on Courtney's side of the garage.
Between Sydney and New Zealand, Courtney's average starting position was 23.0, with a race average of 16.8. Since WAU stepped in after New Zealand, his qualifying average has jumped to 14.9, with his race average 12.2.
All told, for Courtney, it represents an 8.1 position gain in qualifying, and a 4.6 position gain in races.
"The WAU connection has been a little bit stronger since that [Taupō] weekend," Courtney told Supercars' Cool Down Lap podcast.
"We're more aligned with those guys with what we're doing. So, I think that's been a big turn in performance.
"Tassie, we were quite a bit speedier and everyone's confidence grows a bit more, then obviously at Perth we had that great result.
"And then [Saturday in Darwin] some good runs. Everyone's sort of confidence starts to come back. If you put your finger on something, it would be definitely be the connection and working closely with those guys.
"So, it has been a big help."
Courtney is suddenly an outside chance of reaching the Finals, with the retiring champion 159 points outside the top 10 with 1230 points and four rounds left before the cut-off.
