Jim Beam Racing News
James Courtney's Darwin Debrief
24 June 2009
JC SAYS...
Racing in Darwin last weekend was hot and physically tough for all drivers, as we knew it would be.
My race results in the fifth event of the V8 Supercar Championship weren't as good as I'd hoped for, but thanks to my fitness I didn't have any problems coping with temperatures close to 60-degrees inside the Jim Beam Racing Falcon.
This year my fitness program has included cycling between 400km to 450km most weeks around the Gold Coast.
My cycling has been a mixture of 120km rides on a flat roadways, and also some hill climbing.
This is a good way to build the strength, stamina, and endurance you need to be able to concentrate and maintain consistent laps for 100km and 200km races in hot weather at Hidden Valley.
It was great to see Michael Caruso win the second race at Hidden Valley, which was his first victory in the category.
Michael has been doing a good job since he came into fulltime V8 Supercar racing with Gary Rogers Motorsport, and a fresh face at the top of the podium is positive for the sport.
We raced karts against each other many years ago when I was growing up in Sydney, and Michael has worked hard for his success.
Unfortunately I didn't get as much practice track time as I had hoped for at Hidden Valley last Friday.
I spent much of the first practice 'bedding' in brakes, but then my car developed engine issues in the second session. I was unable to drive in the third practice because the engine was replaced.
Missing a practice on Friday made qualifying on Saturday a challenge,and I finished 13th. It was the first time I had been outside the top 10 in a qualifying session this year.
I started the first race on over 100km on Saturday on my allocated set of Dunlop 'sprint' tyres, as did many of the cars in front of me.
We drove a long first stint and delayed our pit stop to lap 21 before switching to the 'control' tyres. The strategy was aimed to improve my track position as much as possible.
By lap 30 I had improved to eighth and that's where I finished, just behind Craig Lowndes in a Falcon and the Commodore of Jason Richards.
I qualified eighth for the second race and felt confident because I knew I could be competitive.
My start was quite good, but then another car hit the rear of my FG Falcon before the hairpin on the first lap. I went off the track and dropped back to the rear of the field.
This contact ended any hope of a podium finish, and I spent the remainder of the race clawing my way back. By lap 60 I was up to 19th,and in the final nine laps I improved seven positions to finish 12th.
Overall, it was a reasonable recovery. My comeback was also helped by a Safety Car near the end of the race which bunched up the field.
Soon after the re-start I had contact with the Holden Racing Team Commodore of Will Davison, who had dropped back several places on the previous lap.
Will got 'out of shape' in front of me, and when he went wide I attempted to pass him. The contact happened when we were side-by-side.
Then Will turned in and went off the track.
The officials viewed the incident from various camera angles after the race and there were no charges or penalties. Regardless of what anyone says it was clearly deemed a 'racing incident'.
Hopefully my luck will take a turn for the better in the next event on the new street circuit in Townsville (July 10-12).
St Kilda, who are sponsored by JELD-WEN, also my personal sponsor, are still leading the AFL premiership with an unbeaten record so I'm hoping some of their success rubs off on me when we race in North Queensland next month.
Keep smiling.
JC
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