In a 30-year profession spanning Europe, Japan and Australia, it took James Courtney impressively quickly to nominate Garth Tander as his favorite teammate.
As Courtney and Dick Johnson Racing battled for the 2010 V8 Supercars championship, not every thing was going easily behind the scenes. Team owners Dick Johnson and Charlie Schwerkolt had been at odds and prior to the championship showdown at Sydney Olympic Park, Courtney and his manager Alan Gow struck a deal for him to affix the Holden Racing Team for 2011, which was confirmed every week after his coronation.
The thing is, the family-owned Holden Walkinshaw factory team already had a longtime lead driver – 2007 champion Tander. Many wondered how and if two alpha drivers in the identical garage would cope. The answer was and is “really good.”
“When it was announced that I would move to HRT, everyone said we wouldn't come to an agreement,” says Courtney, whose racing profession will end at the tip of next season. “I remember realizing very early on that we had the identical humorousness and he was a extremely funny, nice guy. When he appears on TV, he acts like another person!
“On the primary day, we talked about movies. We liked the identical movies, he was pulling on the movie threads I used to be talking about on the time, and I believed, “You're actually okay, not the asshole I thought you would be!”
“There was a extremely good level of respect between us. He had an incredible profession and I respect what he achieved a lot. It is a superb but difficult but fair runner.”
Courtney (right) and Tander had similar taste in movies and quickly formed a connection at HRT in 2011
Photo: Alastair Staley / Motorsport Images
The Courtney-Tander partnership produced no further titles. Courtney finished sixth in 2014 and Tander finished fifth in 2011. This continued until the tip of 2016 when Tander left for Garry Rogers Motorsport. But Courtney's respect for Tander, who retired from full-time Supercars competition in 2018, stays strong today.
“We had some quirks with cars that we liked differently, but we never argued about which direction the car should go,” adds Courtney. “We at all times desired to move in the identical direction.
“Even now, we sort of gravitate towards one another. We are the identical age, we each have children, we now have so much in common. Out of all of them, he's the one I'd do Bathurst with.
“There was a extremely high level of respect between us. He's a superb, tough but honest driver.”
James Courtney
As for his favorite automotive, despite suffering two serious test crashes at Monza and Silverstone in 2002 and never attending to drive it in a race, Courtney still has a passion for the Jaguar R3-Cosworth.
“I know he tried to kill me!” smiles 22 years later. “That was the pinnacle; nothing has ever matched the speed and thrill. If someone told you I could drive one car again in my career – and be sure it wouldn't break down! – that would be the one. It was just astonishing.”
Courtney says he would select Tander primary to race at Bathurst
Photo by: Daniel Kalisz / Motorsport Images
