Courtney to start ninth for tomorrow’s first 250km race in Adelaide

Courtney and team-mate Garth Tander hit the track in their all new VF series Holden Racing Team Commodores for the first time this morning – the on-track schedule was hectic, the two HRT drivers completed four sessions of practice followed by a 20-minute qualifying run with Courtney then challenging for pole position in the Top 10 Shootout.

After featuring in the lead pack for the majority of the day, Courtney managed to deliver a competitive 1:21.3136 lap time in the closing stages of qualifying to secure a place in the first shootout of the year and will start tomorrow’s race from the fifth row of the grid.

On the other side of the HRT garage, Tander had a less than ideal start to the event. Like Courtney, the 2007 Champion circulated with good pace all day but could only manage to register the 18th quickest time at the end of qualifying after encountering some unexpected mechanical issues.

All the action from the Clipsal 500 will continue tomorrow with a warm-up at 8:45am followed by the first 250km race of the weekend which kicks off at 2:50pm.

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James Courtney, #22 Holden Racing Team Holden VE Commodore Series II:

“The car worked well throughout the course of practice today and I was really enjoying being back behind the wheel.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t get the most out of the car during qualifying and (again) in the shootout but we’ll tune it up overnight.

“The race tomorrow is going to be a whole different ball-game but we’re all looking forward to it and we’re keen to deliver a strong result.”