The well-travelled racer now Supercars' elder statesman

James Courtney has been around the block in his motorsport career it's fair to say. After a single-seater career cut short, he's won everything there is to win in Supercars. Following a rocky ride recently in the Australian category, he's found a happy hunting ground with Tickford Racing, as Andrew van Leeuwen explains

Updated Oct 21, 2021, 2:15 AM

Sydney Motorsport Park, 27 June, 2020. James Courtney sits in a Tickford Mustang. There’s not a hint of familiarity to his surrounds. He’s only been in the car once, for a seat fitting the previous day in that very same trackside garage.

Now he’s about to drive the car for the very first time. He has two 20-minute practice sessions to get used to it before qualifying, which is in less than two hours time. By mid-afternoon, he will have already have finished his first race as a Tickford driver.

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Author Andrew van Leeuwen

Andrew van Leeuwen is Motorsport.com's Australian Editor and provides award-winning coverage of Supercars. He started his career working for Australasian Motorsport News in Melbourne, working his way into the top digital editor role before relocating to Mainz, Germany, in 2012. During his three-year stint in Europe he covered a number of series, including the DTM, while working for Autosport, before returning to Australia as part of Motorsport.com's global expansion in early 2015. Alongside his Motorsport.com commitments Andrew is one-third of the successful Below the Bonnet podcast. He lives in Perth with his wife Anne, kids Nico and Billie and chihuahua Coco.