Supercars star James Courtney gives an insight into what drivers are really thinking during the Superloop Adelaide 500
Two-time Adelaide 500 champion James Courtney reveals what drivers are really thinking about during the 78 laps of a Supercars race – and if they really see ‘pink elephants’.
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The Superloop Adelaide 500 street circuit is Supercars’ most gruelling race for drivers to conquer over 78 laps each on Saturday and Sunday.
James Courtney, one of the drivers at Supercars’ newest outfit Team Sydney, has previously experienced success, taming the 14 corners and three long straights in Holden Commodores to be crowned Adelaide 500 champion twice.
He reveals what drivers are really thinking lap-by-lap as they tackle what many regard as the toughest race of the year.
RACE START
“Because we haven’t driven the cars for a while and haven’t raced for a while, there’s new teams, new liveries, the crowd we can hear over the engine – it’s controlling the excitement,” Courtney said.
“When you’re excited you can make bad decisions, so controlling the emotion, remembering the start procedure and keeping yourself calm is the main thing you’re thinking.”
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LAP 1
“You can’t win it on the first lap, you can certainly ruin it, but you don’t want to be giving away too much,” Courtney said.
“From the start, you’re making sure you’re drinking too and making sure you’re keeping your fluids up.
“In the car, if you wait until you get thirsty, it’s too late.
“Typically you’re quite fresh in the start, you’ve been drinking (water) and been out of the car, used cooling vests before you get into the car and been as cold as possible.”
LAP 10
“Up until lap 10, you’re getting into the rhythm, seeing where everyone else is,” Courtney said.
“You start to think strategically, and you’re trying to save fuel because it’s a fuel race.
“The less fuel you use, the less amount they have to put in with the pit stop, which is less time you have to be in there.”
Courtney said there were key parts of the track where drivers had to pay particular attention to what they were doing.
“Turn 8 definitely gets your attention each lap,” he said.
“It’s not the time to look at the big screen.
“At Turn 1, you can do damage on the car if you hit a tyre bundle and ultimately damage the steering.
“In the second part of the chicane, you get a certain number of ‘hops’ (chances to hop over the kerbs, rather than stay on the track).
“If you take too many of them early, you have to slow down so you don’t get a drive-through (penalty).
“It’s more challenging than Turn 8; you’re sitting so low and far back in the car, there’s not the usual reference (point).”
He said the cars were going so fast that once they were committed to a certain speed and line through the chicane, they could not quickly change it if it was not correct.
“It’s not a matter of turning more – if we could turn more, we would.”
LAP 20
“You’re starting to plan the pit stops and thinking about race strategy,” Courtney said.
“If you’re in traffic, you want to try and get out of traffic (by doing a pit stop), get some cool air.
“If you’re in front, you’re trying to cover the person behind.
“You become more involved with the team, talking with the engineer about strategies and options that you’ve been talking about prior to the race.
“At the start, the radio’s pretty quiet.
“As the race goes on, you start to communicate more and more.
“They’re also asking about how the car is handling and suggesting changes.”
FIRST PIT STOP
Drivers may have done thousands of pit stops over the years, but each Adelaide 500 is different, Courtney said.
“In the first race, it’s remembering where your pit box is,” he said.
“If you’ve changed teams, or the team’s moved in pitlane, with new sponsors the pit crew have got new overalls – usually it’s very different.
“You’re making sure you don’t drive past the pit.”
Half the battle can be just getting in there, he said.
“Pit entry is a bit tricky, with a corner into a corner, you have to slow down, so you’re watching the people behind you to watch you’re not going to hit, then not speeding and stop in the right stop.
“In the pit stop, it’s a good chance to have a little bit of a rest.”
LAP 40
“The midway part of the race is the hardest part,” Courtney said.
“It’s hard to race someone when you can’t see them or are with them.
“Concentrating is key to keeping yourself focused, to not do anything silly, not take unnecessary risks.
“It’s a difficult part of the race, it typically feels like the longest part of the race.
“The whole way through, you’re managing tyres, modifying the car, talking a lot to your engineers.
“The track’s constantly evolving as well, being a street circuit, it’s not raced on all the time.
“It goes faster and faster as the week goes on.
“The car characteristics change as well.
“It evolves during the race, so you have to keep on top of that.”
SAFETY CAR
“(Another) hardest part is under safety car,” he said.
“The car’s going slowly, there’s more heat, there’s not as much air flow.
“The car is like an oven.
“When you don’t have to concentrate (on racing), you have the brain capacity to think about how hot you are.
“I think I’m lucky I don’t have the brain capacity to think about two things – I’m either driving or I’m hot.”
LAP 50
“When the car is handling well, you might not ask how many laps to go,” Courtney continued.
“When the car’s going well, it takes less concentration because you’re not fighting the car, working hard in the car.
“You do tend to think about random things at times, so you have to tell yourself to stop thinking about that.
“In the end, it’s our job.
“To me, it’s been 30 years I’ve been racing (since karting) and a lot of it is muscle memory.”
Fellow Supercars driver Mark Winterbottom once said he saw a pink elephant during an Adelaide 500 race, as the heat became too much and caused a hallucination.
But Courtney sees something else each race.
“The one weird thing is, I see my parents – no matter where I am, I’ll find them, I’ll see them.
“For some reason, I’ll see them (even if they’re not at the track).
“Afterwards if they’re at the track I’ll say ‘I saw you at the exit of Turn 3’ or wherever and they’ll say they were never there.”
He believes it may be mental, from his early years in the sport.
“When you’re karting and younger, your dad (is stationed around the track and) gives you all the hand signals for what is happening, so you see them.”
However, he will see real spectators who stand out for a reason such as where they are watching from or what they are wearing.
“You do see people in the crowd throughout the race,” Courtney said.
“There are weird things you see, and you watch the big screen as well to see what’s going on.
“If you can’t see what’s going on around you, you get a lot of information about that (from the TV) – if there’s a safety car, you can see what’s happened or where there’s damage or fluid on the track.”
LAST LAP
“It depends how close they are (the races),” he said as to what goes through his mind if he is leading the race.
“Here, at the Gold Coast and start of Bathurst are the only places where you can hear the crowd over the sound of the cars.”
A closer look at how @will_davison came unstuck in the @23RedRacing Mustang.#VASC pic.twitter.com/L4k50YFP8i
— Supercars (@supercars) February 21, 2020
AFTER THE SATURDAY RACE
“It’s a shock to the body,” Courtney said.
“We always say this is our toughest event of the year, you don’t have that race fitness.
“You can’t simulate the heat that’s inside the car (to practice in the lead up).
“A lot of it comes down to fitness, but also experience.
“The younger guys you’d think would be reasonably fitter, but they don’t have that experience with the heat.
“A lot of it comes down to mental strength.
“Unlike football, we haven’t got a week in between (matches/races), we’ve got 12 hours to go and do it all again.”
WHEN THE RACE IS WON
“Because our sport is focused so much on us as drivers, for me, while you’re happy you’ve won, it’s a good way of thanking the team, it’s a reward for those guys,” he continued.
“We get the fun part of the job (celebrating on the podium); those guys and girls put in crazy hours, not only here at the track, they’re away from family a lot.
“I think about those guys and they get to come down (to stand under the podium) and celebrate, as the best team of the day.
“I think about the team, as opposed to ‘I’ve won’.”
Originally published as Supercars star James Courtney gives an insight into what drivers are really thinking during the Superloop Adelaide 500