COURTNEY CHASING 'GOLD GOLD GOLD' IN PRE-OLYMPICS BATTLE AT WINTON
WEDNESDAY, JULY 30: James Courtney, fresh from his first V8 Supercar victory, feels inspired by Australia's Olympic Games-bound swimmers and aims for "Gold Gold Gold" in the three championship races at Winton in Victoria later this week.
The timing of the eighth round of the V8 Supercar Championship at Winton from August 1-3 is just one week before the start of Beijing Olympics in China (August 8-24).
Courtney admits to being motivated by pre-Games hype and the "Gold Gold Gold" catchcry made famous by veteran broadcaster Norman May describing Australia's 4 x 100m medley swimming victory at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
"Swimming is part of my training, and with the Olympics coming up I've been doing extra laps of the pool in the last couple of weeks," said the JELD-WEN Ford Falcon driver from the Gold Coast.
"Like everyone else, I'll be glued to Channel 7 watching the Beijing Games on television, and especially the swimming."
"You always hear the 'Gold Gold Gold' slogan when the Olympics come around, and that's how I'm going to feel if I can get on top of the podium in the three races at Winton."
Courtney, who broke through for his first V8 Supercar win in the previous championship round at Queensland Raceway near Ipswich from July 18-20, said his respect for Australia's swimmers had grown after discussions with Olympic gold medallist Michael Klim.
Both competed on the seventh series of Channel 7's 'Dancing With The Stars' program in 2007, and Courtney later drove Klim for high-speed laps in his Stone Brothers Racing Falcon at Melbourne's Calder Park.
"We struck up a good friendship and spoke about the differences in our training," said Courtney. "Michael explained to me what the swimmers have to do and I found it inspiring when you consider the sacrifices they make."
Courtney, in his third year with SBR, goes into the Winton event holding sixth position in the championship, and has three podium finishes from the seven rounds contested this year.
He also claimed pole position as fastest qualifier at Queensland Raceway, in addition to winning the first of the three races.
"We made a slow start to the season, but since then SBR have been building momentum and we are now more consistent in terms of car speed and results," said Courtney.
Practice on the 3km Winton track will be held on Friday, with qualifying and the first race the following day. The remaining two races will be on Sunday.
In the 2007 round at Winton, Courtney completed the first race in third position, but was later relegated to 17th after being penalised 27-seconds for an incident which involved contact between his Falcon and the HSV Commodore raced by Rick Kelly. Courtney was 15th and eighth in the following two races.
"Last year we were quick at Winton, but the penalty ruined any chance of a podium," he said. "Hopefully we have a better run this time."
"The championship is getting interesting because there are only 101 points between Rick (Kelly), Steven Richards (Ford Performance Racing) and myself from fourth back to sixth positions."
CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS (after round 7): Mark Winterbotton (Ford) 1,694; Garth Tander (Holden) 1,572; Jamie Whincup (Ford) 1,486; Rick Kelly (Holden) 1,312; Steven Richards (Ford) 1,299; James Courtney (Ford) 1,211; Craig Lowndes (Ford) 1,175; Will Davison (Ford) 1,154; Russell Ingall (Holden) 1,061; Lee Holdsworth (Holden) 1,016.
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