The 10-year wait for a Supercars champion halted by coronavirus

It's been a rollercoaster few months for 2010 Supercars champion James Courtney.

His much-publicised move to the new Team Sydney venture was subject to constant on-again, off-again rumours for months and when it did happen, it didn't last long. A week after the Adelaide 500 he walked away from the team citing that a big commitment "hadn't been honoured".

Then there was a wildcard deal in the works to run a third Erebus car, which was scuppered by the break induced by the coronavirus crisis. The final twist - at least so far - arrived last week when the smoke for a Will Davison/Courtney switch proved to have plenty of fire behind it.

Within days it was confirmed that Davison's backer Milwaukee Tools had been forced out by the COVID-19 pandemic and that Courtney, backed by Boost Mobile, will take the vacant seat, reuniting him with Ford for the first time since his 2010 title-winning year.

The switch may be sensational given the unusual circumstances, but Courtney's move to a Tickford Ford isn't entirely new. He's been linked to the squad a number of times during his career, including a close call a decade ago.

Back in 2010 Courtney was part of an ambitious plan to form a four-car Blue Oval dream team at what was then known as Ford Performance Racing.

There was already a close association between Courtney and Ford. Despite his Supercars debut having been in a factory Holden during the 2005 enduros, his first full-time ride in 2006 was as NASCAR-bound Marcos Ambrose's replacement at Stone Brothers Racing (pictured below).

He'd then moved to perhaps the most iconic Ford team of them all, Dick Johnson Racing, in 2009 before mounting a successful title tilt in a Triple Eight-built, DJR-run Ford Falcon in 2010.

But while it was a fairytale season on the surface, DJR bouncing back from years of financial hardship to beat powerhouses T8 and FPR, there were some serious issues in the background.

At the last minute the deal was turned on its head when the freshly-crowned champion opted to sign as Davison's replacement at the Holden Racing Team

By that point the relationship between co-owners Dick Johnson and Charlie Schwerkolt had soured beyond repair. Schwerkolt, who had been instrumental in Courtney joining the team, went close to selling his share to mining magnate Nathan Tinkler mid-way through 2010. When that deal went south, he hatched a new plan to take both his Racing Entitlements Contract and the superstar driver elsewhere for 2011.

The idea was for a four-car superteam at FPR. With Davison already signed up to replace Steven Richards for 2011, the proposed line-up was formidable - Mark Winterbottom, Davison, Courtney and Paul Dumbrell.

The backing was in place as well, Schwerkolt securing Pepsi Max as the title sponsor for the Courtney car.

But at the last minute the deal was turned on its head when the freshly-crowned champion opted to sign as Davison's replacement at the Holden Racing Team instead.

Rumour has it a lot of cans of Pepsi Max with Courtney's face on it were scrapped.

Schwerkolt, already smarting from the blow-up with Johnson, wanted a break from the sport and leased his REC back to DJR. FPR continued as a three-car operation, the team not pleased with how things had gone down.

Courtney's long-time manager Alan Gow, however, is adamant to this day that the pair didn't 'do the dirty' on Schwerkolt or FPR.

"We were talking to FPR. It was actually through Charlie Schwerkolt, Charlie was going to do a deal with FPR," said Gow on a recent episode of the V8 Sleuth podcast.

"And it was happening, happening, happening, but nothing concrete was done. It got to a stage where we had to make a decision. We had a contract in front of us from HRT, and we had a potential contract coming to us from FPR.

"Eventually, as a business, you've got to make a decision. And I deal in realities, not maybes.

"So we took the HRT deal. That was the only contract on the table at the time. The other one was... a definite 'maybe it's going to happen'. But we had never seen a contract from them.

"I don't know why people think that we all of a sudden did the wrong thing by FPR and went to HRT. HRT gave us a contract, FPR didn't. Very simple decision.

"But some people at the time tried to make it look like we'd done the dirty or reversed our decision or whatever."

Following a two-year loan deal with DJR, Schwerkolt eventually made good on his fourth FPR car plan by parking his REC at Campbellfield in 2013 and 2014 for Alex Davison and Jack Perkins respectively.

Courtney, meanwhile, has had to wait a little longer to finally suit up for the squad now known as Tickford Racing - something both driver and team boss Tim Edwards acknowledged while announcing this new deal.

"It's funny, when Tim and I first spoke we joked that this is the fourth time we've tried to put a deal together" James Courtney

"Speaking with James, he has the same confidence about him that won him a championship in 2010, and he has something to prove, which we like," said Edwards.

"It's ironic; he beat us to that championship in 2010, and we thought we were going to sign him for the following year! So it's all come full circle."

Courtney added: "It's funny, when Tim and I first spoke we joked that this is the fourth time we've tried to put a deal together. But I'm very happy that it's all come off this time."

Every move in Courtney's 14-year Supercars career has been remarkable in its own way.

He arrived as a high-profile replacement for a two-time series champion. He won a title with a team that had been on the brink of collapse and was ravaged by in-fighting. Then there was the sensational HRT deal, followed almost a decade later by the unsuccessful Team Sydney gamble.

This Tickford deal, fuelled by the coronavirus pandemic, may just be the most remarkable one yet.