Courtney signs for SBR

Courtney, 25, will take up the seat having only raced twice in the V8 Supercar series, at this year's Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000 endurance events, finishing eleventh at Sandown before crashing out in the early laps at Bathurst.

His previous racing experience includes World Karting titles, second overall in British Formula Three, Japanese Formula Three champion, testing a Jaguar Formula One car and a stint in Japanese GT racing.

However, promising speed he showed during those two events caught Stone Brothers Racing boss Ross Stone's eye. "It was during one of the early practice sessions that Jimmy (co-owner Jimmy Stone) and I were watching with interest the lap times of all the drivers," he said.

"Very early in the first session James' lap times flashed up and Jimmy and I turned to each other and without saying a word we both knew that James had to be a priority signing for us."

"To run the way he did so early at such a difficult track proved the calibre of driver he is. Marcos is a very hard driver to replace and leaves a great legacy but we believe that James can match his feats in the years to come."

Courtney is very happy with his new home: "This last couple of weeks has been amazing as we had some incredible offers both in Japan and Australia for 2006 onwards so the pressure was really on to decide where I would go. But only on Thursday was the decision actually made and the contract signed."

"Having raced around the world, I'm now really looking forward to racing in my own country. The timing was spot-on; the championship is great, the team is great, the car is great... it certainly ticked all the right boxes for me." said Courtney.

Courtney will have a lot to live up to, having taken over the seat of Marcos Ambrose who will be racing in one of the NASCAR series in the United States next year. Ambrose won the 2003 and 2004 V8 Supercar titles, and along with teammate Russell Ingall, runs in the top two places in this year's points with two rounds remaining.

The Courtney deal coincides with Pirtek leaving V8 Supercar racing at the end of the season after eight years, with associate sponsor Jeld-Wen stepping up to take over the naming rights of Courtney's car in 2006.