Bathurst curse not over for Courtney
JAMES Courtney’s dream of finally winning his first Bathurst 1000 has gone up in smoke, with an engine failure cruelling his day.
Courtney watched on from the pits as his teammate Jack Perkins suffered a race-ending problem on lap 34.
The mechanical drama continued a history of Mount Panorama pain for Courtney, who has gone winless in his 13 Bathurst attempts.
“That is motor racing,’’ Courtney said. “It is the first engine failure I have had in my eight years here. It is massively disappointing and sad for all the guys in here.’’
Courtney was looking to break through for a Bathurst maiden win with a much-improved Holden Commodore.
“It is not the way I thought it was going to go this morning,’’ he said. “The car was amazing in practice. The car had great speed and we had a great warm-up.’’
Courtney was in the lead battle pack when he handed his car over to Perkins, only to see disaster strike.
“Jack just started reporting low oil pressure,’’ Courtney said. “The oil pressure alarms went off and then it just exploded.’’
Courtney said the setback was hard to take after a difficult year for new-look team Walkinshaw Andretti United.
“I just said to the guys it has been a tough year and the first engine failure we have had for a long time,’’ Courtney said.
“I just said we need to get all the bad luck all out of the way now. The good thing is we have car speed at the moment and it is getting better and better.
“We just need to press on for the rest of the year and attack.’’
Courtney will join Perkins for a final Endurance Cup crack at the Gold Coast 600.