Gold Coast V8 Supercar driver James Courtney gives a guided tour of the GC600 track

GOLD Coast driver James Courtney takes us on a lap of the GC600 track, pointing out where the race will be won and lost and cars could come unstuck.

TODAY, James Courtney is flying through these familiar streets, hitting the curbs at 265km/h with an earful of instructions from a highly organised crew.

But this time last week he was cruising in his wife Carys’s HSV GTS, politely indicating when required, Gold FM turned low.

He knows every turn and exactly how to treat it, every chicane and kerb, and every wall of concrete on which he’s likely to lose a bit of paint – if he’s lucky.

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE GOLD COAST 600

“Because the pit entrance is actually at the end of the straight, you come in with a whole heap of speed so it’s normally pretty sketchy pulling up because you’ve got to come down from 200-and-something-km/h to 40km/h and there’s normally quite a bit of congestion,” he said. The 33-year-old Gold Coaster – called JC by friends and fans – has been watching from his bicycle as his home track has taken shape in recent weeks.

V8 Supercar driver James Courtney indicates just what can happen if things go wrong. Picture: Jerad Williams

“If you’ve made a mistake you can go back and see where you’ve touched wall.”

Souvenir hunters chasing a scraped-off mirror or shred of tyre also wander the track the next day – and a prime hunting ground is right after the pits on the first turn.

“The braking into turn one is really quite sketchy – and then from that you are also trying to get from one side of the track to the other and pick your apex so you are coming from way out and then you are aiming straight for this wall here.”

By exciting, of course, he means dangerous. That wall near the Golden Gate is unforgiving. “It claims a lot of cars here over a race weekend because when you hit that concrete it doesn’t move,” Courtney said.

No more leisurely pace, James Courtney will go all out on the Gold Coast 600 street circuit this weekend.

Coming around the hairpin at turn four, near the Bahia building, is another crash zone.

“It’s really quite narrow and there’s a lot of passing and there’s a lot of chance that there’s going to be accidents here, also because a lot of guys will come in with wheels locked,” he said.

Drivers next get “a little bit of a rest” at one of the fastest points of the track. Whizzing through Narrow Neck at up to 265km/h, this is the time they have a drink and a chat.

Spectators in the Norfolk and Sunbird buildings can expect some action at turn 11, as drivers hug the walls to the left, then right, then make a wide turn.

Turns 14 and 15 are possibly the most important of the circuit – they could be where the race is won or lost.

“Getting into this corner is quite tricky,” Courtney said.

“A lot of guys will lock a front inside wheel and actually understeer off into the wall.

“It’s a really crucial part of the lap because you want to get really good traction out of there because this is a long corner coming onto the main straight.”