Courtney signs multi-year Tickford Supercars deal

As expected, the 2010 series champion will continue with the famous Ford squad for 2022 and beyond.

He first joined the team mid-way through the 2020 season, replacing Will Davison who lost his backing due to the pandemic.

At that point Courtney was on the sidelines after walking away from an ambitious Team Sydney deal after a single round.

He has since become a regular top-10 finisher with Tickford, his best result for the team a second in Darwin last year, while he currently sits ninth in the 2021 standings with five rounds to go.

"It’s awesome to get this deal done with [Tickford CEO] Tim [Edwards] and the team, and I’m very excited to be sticking around with the boys and girls at Tickford," Courtney said.

"We’ve got a really good team dynamic going and we’ve had some strong results on track since I joined the team a year and half ago.

"No doubt we want to do even better when we go back racing later this month, but I’m really enjoying working with the team and driver group at Tickford, and it’s a really nice feeling heading into the rest of the year knowing my future’s taken care of."

James Courtney, Tickford Racing Ford

Photo by: Edge Photographics

Edwards added that Courtney will be a valuable asset to the team during the transition to the new Gen3 rules later next year.

“James has been a great addition to the team since he’s come on board and we’re delighted to be going around again with him in a multi-year agreement,” Edwards said.

“He’s been a great source of insight for our engineers and an excellent sounding board for his team-mates since he joined our programme. He’s fit in with the whole team really well and has driven some great races for us, so we’re more than happy to keep him around.

"In addition to all that, we expect his feedback will be particularly valuable as we transition to and develop the Gen3 Ford Mustang, which certainly excites both of us quite a bit.

"We’re looking forward to seeing JC’s continued contributions to the team across the rest of this season, and are very excited to see what we can accomplish together in the future."

Courtney is the second of Tickford's four drivers formally confirmed for the 2022 season, following news back in June that Thomas Randle will join a re-expanded line-up.

PLUS: How Randle went from fighting cancer to battling for Supercars contention

The full driver roster appears to be locked in, though, with an extension of Cam Waters' deal thought to be a formality.

Jake Kostecki, meanwhile, is set to replace Jack Le Brocq in what appears to be a straight swap between Tickford and Matt Stone Racing.