Michael James in fast lane

MICHAEL James (pictured), the former CEO of the collapsed Air Australia and husband of Bestjet MD Rachel James, has been spending plenty of time on the road in recent weeks, with his own personal motor racing team having come in second place in the Phillip Island 600.

The Holden Commodore-driving outfit, called MRJ Motorsport, features James behind the wheel along with co-driver Callan Sayers, driving an HSV VE GTS in the “Aussie Muscle 1 Class”.

It’s now just over seven months since the abrupt shutdown of Bestjet before Christmas (TD 18 Dec 2018) which was in turn just five weeks after Rachel James sold the business to McVicker International.

Michael James’ high-speed lifestyle seems at odds with claims by wife Rachel following the $26m failure, who said she and her family were “coming to terms both with unemployment and without proceeds from the sale” (TD 06 Jan).

The racing team had a bit of bad luck during the warm-up for the race, “blowing a motor” in practice requiring a complete rebuild of the engine.

Michael and Rachel James are expected to be back in Brisbane next week, in response to a formal Federal Court summons to appear as part of a Public Examination into the Bestjet collapse which continues to disrupt the travel plans of thousands.

Although Bestjet’s purchaser, Robert McVicker, claimed the deal was for 100% of the business (TD 06 Nov 2018), the liquidators of the OTA have since revealed an option arrangement which gave Rachel James the right to take back 90% of the company.

Pilot Partners, which has obtained orders for interested parties to testify, also says Michael James acted as a “shadow director” of Bestjet.