Primary Car	Holden Commodore VE II
Engineer	Scott Sinclair
Origins	Penrith, NSW, 29th June 1980
Resides	Gold Coast, QLD
Peronsonal Status	Wife Carys, kids Zara and Cadel
Outside of racing	Family, training, running, cycling
Street ride	HSV GTS
Facebook	facebook.com/JamesCourtneyRacing
Twitter	@JCourtney01
Wiki	James_Courtney
Website	jamescourtney.com.au
Team Website	hrt.com.au

The 2010 V8 Supercars Champion lines up for his second year as a factory Holden driver after what can only be described as a character-building year in 2011.

As the reigning champion moving to the mighty Holden Racing Team, much was expected of Courtney, however it turned into a season that didn’t pan out the way everyone thought. A race win in Abu Dhabi was some form of consolation, though it took until November for Courtney to again visit the podium at Sandown.

A two-time karting world champion before he stepped into car racing, Courtney’s pedigree is second to none.

After dominating the British Formula Ford Championship in 2001, Courtney stepped into the British Formula 3 Championship in 2002 and comfortably led until a massive testing accident in a Jaguar Formula 1 car at Monza injured the young star and sent his career sideways.

He rebounded by winning the Japanese Formula 3 Championship in 2003 and then jumped on board a Super GT car in Japan for Toyota before returning home to make his V8 Supercar debut in the endurance events in 2005 alongside Jim Richards for the Holden Racing Team.

Snapped up by Stone Brothers Racing to replace the NASCAR-bound Marcos Ambrose for 2006, Courtney’s star rose further in 2007 thanks to his participation on Channel Seven’s popular ‘Dancing With The Stars’ program.

In 2008 he broke through for his first race victory at Queensland Raceway but still couldn’t score a breakthrough round victory despite four trips to the podium.

At year’s end he left SBR to join Dick Johnson’s Jim Beam Racing and finally stood on the top step of the podium with his new team in Townsville in 2009.

He returned in 2010 to take his maiden V8 Supercars Championship with five race wins and a consistent season that also saw him awarded the Barry Sheene Medal.