The Holden Racing Team’s James Courtney has taken out Race 27 of the V8 Supercars Championship today at Winton Motor Raceway.

Courtney delivered a pair of very strong qualifying performances earlier this morning, posting the fourth quickest time in the first 15-minute session and then delivering a thrilling pole position lap time in the second.

In the opening laps of today’s first 34-lap sprint, Courtney held firm as the field eventually settled following a first lap tussle that saw teammate, Garth Tander, and Walkinshaw Racing stable mate, Russell Ingall, sustain significant damage. It was a relatively uneventful race at the sharp end; Courtney executed a patient passing manoeuvre on D’Alberto to take third place and then circulated with good race pace to claim a well-deserved podium at the conclusion of Race 26.

Starting from pole position for today’s second 100km battle, Courtney led the entire race and scored a comprehensive victory.

Courtney’s HRT teammate, Garth Tander, was unable to break into the top 10 during the first qualifying run registering the 13th quickest time. Determined to improve, he bounced back to claim 8th and a fourth row start for Race 27.

Despite making a good start to the first race of the day, Tander quickly found himself in trouble with his #2 VF Commodore sustaining damage to the steering. Tander re-joined the race some laps later but his race was effectively over.

In the day’s second race, Tander narrowly missed a podium after a mid-race gamble to change tyres paid dividends. Resuming outside the top 10 after his stop under Safety Car conditions, Tander stormed his way back to the front, crossing the line in fourth.

The 2013 V8 Supercars Championship continues with the first of the endurance events, the Wilson Security Sandown 500 (13-15 September).

James Courtney, #22 Holden Racing Team Holden VF Commodore
“I said yesterday that I’d love to stand on the podium today and I’m really stoked to have taken the win.

“The whole team has worked really hard and it’s great to have had this result today.

“I’m really looking forward to the endurance races and can’t wait to drive alongside Murph at all the events – it’s going to be a lot of fun!”