The Holden Racing Team’s champion drivers Garth Tander and James Courtney will again proudly display their Holden State of Origin allegiances with the duo wearing special themed race suits at next weekend’s Townsville 500.

Tander and Courtney, who dominated the Townsville event last year with a 1-2 victory on Sunday, raced at the Reid Park circuit with Queensland Maroons and NSW Blues bonnets respectively – and incredibly matched the result of the final game played just days later.

Courtney, a huge NRL fan, can’t wait to reprise the rivalry.

“I love the Holden State of Origin series, and it’s so cool that HRT gets behind it and we can show our colours at the race track as well,” the 2010 V8 Supercars champion said.

Courtney, who currently sits fifth in the drivers’ standings on 1120 points, is a big NRL fan and is hoping for a clean sweep for NSW with victory in Game 3 on July 9 – which would be the first since 2000.

“I’ve been waiting for this sort of result for a while, so it was great for the NSW boys to win the first two Holden State of Origin matches.

“But if we can take all three, with a win in Game 3, I’ll certainly have something to say to all my mates who are Queensland fans!

“I’ll be wearing my NSW race suit in Townsville with pride, that’s for sure.”

HRT is also gunning to repeat its success, with Tander and Courtney taking a crushing 1-2 victory at Townsville last year.

It’s a weekend that Tander remembers well, and one he’s eager to repeat with the three-time Bathurst winner yet to win this season.

“For the team it was fantastic,” Tander said.

“It was a team effort as far as our race team at the track, and the boys who were back at the workshop in Clayton. So to get that sort of dominant result was very satisfying for everyone involved.

“We didn’t win a race in 2012, and the first-half of 2013 so it was good to get a race win on the board and prove to a lot of people that HRT is not spent force. We’ve continued to prove that since, and go to Townsville with confidence.”

The Townsville 500 will follow the SuperStreet format, with an extra 100km race on Saturday and the hard tyres to be used throughout the weekend. The popular Top-10 Shootout will also return for the first time this season.

Tander knows what it takes to win in Townsville, with two victories at the Reid Park street circuit.

“It requires everything from the car,” the 2007 V8 Supercars Champion said.

“However, the two different personalities that the track has, in the street-circuit aspect versus the parkland-circuit aspect makes it really interesting.”

The Townsville 500 event will kick-start next week from July 4-6.