2010 champion James Courtney says Supercars has become too friendly and wants to see more fierce rivalries between the drivers

James Courtney is about to embark on his final full-time season in Supercars, but the 2010 champion is not a fan of how ‘friendly’ the series has become compared to the fierce rivalries of the past.

Supercars veteran James Courtney has bemoaned the absence of fierce rivalries in the series today, claiming the category has turned into a friendly “boys’ club” lacking colour.

As he prepares to embark on his final season as a full-time driver in Supercars, Courtney lamented how the dynamics within a sport built on famous on and off-rack rivalries had shifted to “everyone being mates”.

The 2010 Supercars champion believed the series was at its best when there were “big blow ups” between the drivers and said the lack of conflict within the field now had detracted from the show.

Speaking ahead of his 20th and final full-time season, the Ford star also opened up on how the Albert Park round each year left him wondering “what could have been”; how he was determined to call time on his own terms, the party he had planned if he could win at Bathurst and why he’s now in his element selling $6m houses on the Gold Coast.

In his two decades in Supercars, Courtney said the biggest shift had been the personalities in the field and he felt the famous rivalries had dried up to the detriment of the sport.

“There are no rivalries anymore. I don’t understand why they all hang out with each other and they all go to each other’s weddings and dinners together,” Courtney lamented.

“I am not interested … I will be polite and say ‘Hi’ and all that sort of stuff, but for me it’s strange that everyone is so friendly now and I think it takes something away from the sport.

James Courtney has lamented the lack of fierce rivalries in Supercars. (Photo by Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images)

“I’m driving up behind someone thinking ‘I don’t care how I get past this guy, but I’m getting past him’ but those guys are driving up thinking ‘I’ve got to get past him, but I don’t want to upset him because we’re going to dinner next week’.

“Whereas me, I don’t care. If I have to push them a little, I’ll get past and I’ll deal with the anger afterwards.

“There seems to be such a boys’ club friendly thing which is unusual within sport when you are competing against each other.

“That is something that has surprised me the way the sport has gone. It is something that takes away from the show of what we have because there is not that rivalry and those big blow ups.

“I remember having big arguments with (Paul) Morris and Russell Ingall and (Mark) Skaife and I going at each other and Russell and Skaife. Someone was always upset with someone, but it just seems like everyone is everyone’s mate now.”

Courtney said he would love to see the next generation renew the “rivalry and aggression” which delivered the sport headlines in the past.

“If we could get back to a place where there was more competition within the driving group and everyone wasn’t everyone’s best mate it would be more of a story to tell,” Courtney said.

“Before, the racing was really good, but we also had all those little rivalries and quirks and people arguing …. there was a lot of colour to the sport.

“Whereas now there is no colour or backstory, it is all just about the racing.”

James Courtney will race for the last time in 2025. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Courtney will kickstart his farewell tour as a full-time driver with Blanchard Racing Team at the opening round of the Supercars season at Sydney Motorsport Park later this month.

The oldest driver in the field at age 44, Courtney expected the emotions of his final full-time campaign to hit when he rolled out onto the grid at SMP, but he was confident it was the right time to move on to a new chapter in his life.

“I am wanting to always call it on my terms,” Courtney said.

“With what happened with Garth (Tander) and then Mark (Winterbottom) last year, I didn’t want to end my career with someone else’s decision like what happened with those guys.

“I consciously wanted to be that person that made the call. That was a big part of it.

“I was eight years old when I started (karting) so I have given the majority of my life to (racing) and I don’t think I will be able to walk away and never turn up (to a track again), I will have to be involved in some way, but I think it was definitely time to hang it all up and step aside.”

It shapes as a big start to the season for Courtney, who is soon due to welcome his fourth child and his second with his wife, Tegan, after round one.

Supercars veteran James Courtney will kick off his farewell full-time season in the opening round at Sydney Motorsport Park. Pic: Mark Horsburgh

WHAT’S NEXT

While he has already been preparing for life after Supercars with a career move into real estate away from the track, Courtney said he had yet to decide what his involvement in racing looked like beyond 2025 – either as a co-driver or off-track role.

“I haven’t fully decided exactly what I will do, but I would like to be involved in some way,” Courtney said.

“Whether it be continuing to co-drive, I’m not sure, or something within Supercars, trying to stay within the crew. There has been no decision made as yet as to what it would look like, but I think I would have to be involved somehow otherwise I would go crazy.

“Being involved in a team would be something I am very much interested in. I love the commercial side of the business as well, the hustle and working with sponsors and bringing new people to the sport.”

What is certain is drivers fresh out of a full-time drive are generally in demand and Courtney said he would field all offers.

“I’ve already been getting approached by a lot of people,” Courtney said.

“I’m not silly, I will listen to what everyone has got to say and when the time is right we will make the right call.”

BATHURST BURNING

One major prize has eluded Courtney during his Supercars career – the biggest race of them all – the Bathurst 1000.

Courtney has finished on the podium four times at Mount Panorama, including runner-up in 2007, and he remained determined to try and find a way onto the top step.

“I’ve already said to (BRT owner and team principal) Tim (Blanchard), ‘Mate, if I win Bathurst you will not see me ever again, I will just mic drop and you’ll have to drive the rest of the year’,” Courtney said.

“I’ll be drunk for the rest of the year, I think.

“I have managed to tick off every marquee event we’ve got and that’s the only one that has eluded me throughout my whole career.

“It’s 100 percent something that I would really love to tick off and achieve and win before my full-time career is over.

“If I won Bathurst when I was a co-driver, for me it wouldn’t feel like a proper victory. That sounds really bad, but I think I would love to win it when I was the main guy.

“I’m not saying I wouldn’t enjoy the win when it wasn’t me, but it wouldn’t be the same.”

James Courtney doing his ‘Frank the Tank’ dance after winning at the 2016 Adelaide 500. Picture: Tim Hunter.

THE F1 DREAM

As he reflected on his racing days, Courtney admitted he did often wonder “what could have been” after a high-speed crash during Formula 1 testing changed the trajectory of his career early on.

Courtney was badly hurt when he was testing for Jaguar at Monza in 2002, which would curtail his F1 dream and ultimately set him on a different path towards Supercars.

“I do believe that everything happens for a reason, but you would be lying if you say you never think about what could have been,” Courtney said.

“Every year when we roll up at the (Australian Formula 1) Grand Prix and I see (Fernando) Alonso still rolling around and I’m like ‘These were the guys that were my era and that could have been me’.

“But for every successful story there’s a thousand or million people that have got a hardship. My hard story is still a really good bloody story, I have managed to stay on and do all that stuff (in Supercars).

“Grand Prix time is probably the time when that kicks in and you’re like, ‘I wonder what would have happened if that didn’t happen and I didn’t end up here’.

“It could have been an incredibly different life, but I’m not saying I’m not happy with the life that I’ve had, but if you didn’t think about that or wonder, you wouldn’t be human.”

James Courtney celebrates his 2010 championship win with his team – Sydney Telstra 500, 2010 V8 Supercars Grand Finale, Sydney Olympic Park.

LOCATION, LOCATION

Away from the track, Courtney has already started transitioning into life after Supercars, embarking on a career selling houses as a real estate agent.

Working for McGrath Real Estate on the Gold Coast, Courtney said he got a thrill out of closing a deal in the same way he did from racing, recently celebrating a $6m sale.

“In a lot of ways, it is the same skill set in that throughout my life I have been building a profile and selling myself – whether that be to the public for support, commercially, teams, or team owners,” Courtney said.

“I have spent my life telling a story and the real estate side of things is the same.

“Having that profile coming from a sporting background really helps with opening doors and getting in. I’m a big fan of real estate and renovating and anything to do with homes.

“The biggest sale I have had so far is $6m and the rush of getting that deal done and being with the family and seeing the joy on both the buyer and seller’s face, it’s cool to help people and see them into the next phase of their life.

“It’s been a new challenge and I’m surprised how well it is going and how much I am enjoying it.”

Originally published as 2010 champion James Courtney says Supercars has become too friendly and wants to see more fierce rivalries between the drivers