INTERVIEW: JAMES COURTNEY – ANGER MANAGEMENT
James Courtney on his worst year in Supercars
IF YOU want proof of the burning rage inside James Courtney you only have to look at his right hand.
As the former Supercars champion sat down with Auto Action to talk about the worst year of his racing life it’s easy to see his frustration, anger and commitment.
It’s all reflected in the torn and bleeding knuckles which have been ripped open during an intensive boxing session, in which Courtney has channelled his rage into a fight he could win.
“You think that’s bad. You should see the bag,” Courtney joked.
“One upside of the results not being so good this year is that I can get my frustrations out by training like a machine. I reckon I’m easily in the best shape I’ve ever been in.”
But the smiling mask fell away as Courtney got serious for a change about what’s gone wrong at the one-time super team of Supercars racing. With no need to please a television audience, or keep quiet to please sponsors, or even avoid criticising the racecar he claimed was possessed, his assessment is brutally blunt.
James Courtney is glad the 2017 Supercars season is over
“This year is about to be over, thank f–k,” Courtney said.
“It’s been embarrassing. That’s the toughest thing this year. I shouldn’t be here. Even coming home to the kid has been tough.”
But how bad has it been? And how does it compare with his other frustrating years of under-achievement at the former Holden Racing Team, and even the year when his Formula 1 dream disintegrated in a 300kmh Jaguar test cash at Monza in Italy?
“There is not even one year that’s within 10 percent of how bad this year has been. It’s been crazy,” he says.
“It was definitely dark for a very long period. I suppose through the mid-point of the year, when nothing was working and the results weren’t there, that was the worst.”
That was the time when Courtney struggled to break into the top 20 in qualifying and had some stupid and pointless crashes.
“I went six rounds qualifying outside the top 20. That was bullshit. That would be the hardest thing,” he said.
It was also the time when Adrian Burgess, who guided Courtney through Formula 3 in Britain and came to Australia at his former driver’s suggestion, was sacrificed by Ryan Walkinshaw in the fruitless hunt for a solution to the troubles at the former Holden Racing Team.
Courtney admits he and his great mate had some heavyweight confrontations through 2017, but says they have come through it and are still friends.
“Obviously, for many reasons it was very tough. We’ve known each other for a very long time. In the end, I think he understood that I wasn’t sacking him.
“The good thing about our relationship, when we were mates working together, was that we could have the worst ever bust-up and then talk about where we were going to go out to dinner that night.
“His sacking hasn’t affected our friendship. We’re still mates.
Burgess was just one of the many casualties at Clayton, everywhere from senior management to engineers and mechanics. Even drivers were not immune to the in-fighting and soul searching, with DJR Team Penske reject Scott Pye arriving to partner Courtney from the start of 2017.
The end result is a team which has struggled for direction and motivation.
“That’s the thing. As a team and an engineering group, as much as we don’t know what’s wrong, we also don’t know what’s right and why. One session we can be fast, and we’re right there on pace, and we don’t change anything on the car and the weather changes and we’re 20th.
“We’ve now got three engineers at our team. Two of them are in their first year and there’s one who’s been there for three years. And that’s what we’ve had all year. And we’re going up against Ludo [Lacroix], and Triple Eight with Dutto [Marek Dutton] and [David] Cauchi. And all the data engineers, and all the people back at the workshop as well.
“The biggest drama for us is that we don’t the experience. We’ve got Starry [Rob Starr], who has been at the team for 26 years, but he’s not a graduate-style engineer.”
Courtney is not trying to dodge his own responsibility in the downturn at Walkinshaw Racing, and knows there are plenty of doubters and haters in and out of the pitlane bunkers.
Scott Pye joined James Courtney at Walkinshaw in 2017
Some people have questioned his commitment, some have doubted his talent, and others have wondered why he bothered to even turn up when things were going so badly.
“Even in the mid-point of the year, when things weren’t going well, I knew it wasn’t me,” Courtney responds.
“My ego is too big to doubt myself. It wouldn’t let me doubt myself.”
He is half-way joking about his ego – but only half-way. He’s a racer with incredible self-belief who relies on a talent that took him to two world karting titles, as well as a Formula Ford championship in Britain and a Japanese Formula 3 crown before his 2010 series win in V8 Supercars.
Courtney has all the symptoms of an adult with ADHD and that means he is hyper-active and super competitive. He never sits still and he’s always up for a challenge.
That works for him in motorsport, in his fitness training, and even in the recovery from the awful injuries he has suffered on the Supercars trail.
First came the T-boning of his Commodore at Phillip Island that left him with a broken leg, then the helicopter incident at Eastern Creek that’s left him with permanent nerve damage in his back and perpetual pain.
“How am I? Are you talking physically or mentally?” he jokes.
“My back has been playing up a bit this year, but the doctor told me if I can go without the operation (to burn damaged nerve endings) for a while there is a chance my body will learn to live with the pain. So I’d rather do that than have them go in and put more holes in me and doing the nerves.
“The leg? Just when it gets cold it gets a bit sore.”
So, then, how about the mental side of things?
“I don’t know. It has been incredibly testing,” he begins, choosing every word carefully.
“I’ve had some hard years, going up with no funding and not knowing what is going to happen for the next year.
“But as a team, I’ve never been so uncompetitive as this year. For me, mentally, that’s been another challenge.
“That’s why I like beating up the boxing bag.”
Courtney has the advantage of a super-supportive wife, Carys, and two young children to keep him busy and distracted.
“Zara turns 10 on January and Cadel is eight on February 4. Zara is crazy about horses, so she and Carys spend the majority of their spare time with them.
“Cadel is crazy about soccer. He’s had a couple of goes at karting but he actually asked me ‘Is it alright if I don’t become a racing driver?’ and I said that’s was okay. So he is just deciding if he’s going to play for Real Madrid or Barcelona.”
Looking at the children’s birthdays it’s easy to suggest they were planned so the births would be in the motorsport off-season.
“As unsexy as that sounds, it’s the way we had to do it. I didn’t want to miss out on the births or any of that. And our wedding anniversary is the 29th of January. There is a lot going on in that period each year. There’s Australia Day too, so it’s a nice little festive season.”
To close off the family side of things, Courtney’s long-term manager Alan Gow – the long-time boss of the British Touring Car Championship and head of the British equivalent of CAMS – has been kept busy with contract talks and the creation of the new Walkinshaw team structure. So, how is their relationship?
“Alan is one of the family. He’s a crossover between my dad and my best mate. I talk to him nearly every day. The majority of the time it’s about life stuff, not work.
“As romantic as it sounds, we’re kindred spirits. We even both love watches.
“I think I’ve softened him over the last 19 years, and we laugh because we’re each other’s longest relationship in life.
“But it’s coming up to 20 years and my management deal will be up. I won’t have to pay him anymore. We’re currently arguing about the future. And it’s funny because the shoe is on the other foot. For once I’ve got the bargaining power.”
James Courtney and Alan Gow were involved in the Walkinshaw Andretti United deal
Gow was one of the behind-the-scenes people who helped Ryan Walkinshaw re-create his team as Walkinshaw Andretti United before Bathurst, providing contacts with Zac Brown and Michael Andretti.
Few people realised at the time that Courtney was also deeply involved.
“Over the last few months I’ve been involved with all that happening. It’s been really, really good to see that things are happening. It’s not just a shift. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s not a shift in going about racing, it’s a completely different universe.
“That’s the exciting thing. It’s not just engineering with Andretti, but the also the commercial side with Zak.”
If this is beginning to sound like another one of those “We can win again” promises from Clayton, Courtney refuses to lead the chant. In fact, he’s disappointed – yes, and angry – that it has taken so long.
“The reason I came to the red team was because wanted it to be back where it was when I was a child and the Holden Racing Team were the heroes. This is what needed to happen seven years ago. It’s good to have it happen at last. So to help build and be part of it is a massive tick.”
“I’m never happy with 10th. If I’m not winning then I don’t care where I finish” – James Courtney
So, what does Courtney bring, after such lacklustre results in recent years?
“Hopefully it’s experience, and good quality fast driving.”
If that’s how he still rates himself, then why has he been caught up in some many crashes this year?
“When the thing isn’t as good as it needs to be you have to push a lot harder than you should. I’m not someone who settles. I strive to be best and go the fastest, every lap.
“I’m never happy with 10th. If I’m not winning then I don’t care where I finish.
“In New Zealand I parked it in the wall, and Bathurst as well. But Bathurst was circumstantial, with being back in the pack and being aggravated.”
So, with everything going so badly, did Courtney ever consider moving to another team? Or completely away from Supercars racing?
“I haven’t walked away from anything in my life. A coward walks away.
“Yes, it would have been easier to walk way. Yes, there were opportunities. But I’m never going to walk away from a challenge. I’ve put in seven years and I want it to work and I will keep pushing until we succeed.”
So, what’s the key to the future?
Apart from the promises from the Walkinshaw Andretti United connection, Courtney says he is most looking forward to having former BTCC champion engineer Carl Faux in his corner.
“The biggest loss for us as a team was when Alastair McVean went last year. He was the one guy who understood it. As soon as he left we dropped back.
“It’s like all the lights have been turned back on. We’re not bumping into each other in the dark.”
Courtney knows there are more changes to come, in the cars and the crew, and he is cautiously – very cautiously – optimistic about 2018.
Like every driver in Supercars racing he intends to hit the re-set button after the grand final on the streets of Newcastle, but he will be thumping instead of pushing that button.
“It’s not a case of hitting re-set. We’re throwing the whole damn computer out.
“We’ve scrapped the iPhone 7 and we’re going straight to the 10,” laughs Courtney, as he massages his scraped knuckles for the final time.
By PAUL GOVER
Article originally published in Issue 1723 of Auto Action.
After our latest interviews? Pick up the current issue Auto Action magazine, on sale now. In the mean time follow us on social media Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or sign up for our weekly email newsletter for all the latest updates between issues.
