Once again the Gold Coast Indy proved a great event with plenty of
people enjoying the racing and the unique party atmosphere at a
spectacular beachside location.

Almost 300,000 people attended, and although that's a slight drop on
past years the crowd numbers were still pretty good considering the
difficult economic climate.

The weather was mostly warm and sunny, apart from the occasional splash
of rain to cool down the fans around the 4.4km Surfers Paradise street
circuit.

Unfortunately things didn't go so well for me on the track in the 11th
round of the V8 Supercar Championship.

I finished ninth in the first race, 11th in the second, and had to
retire from the third after the JELD-WEN Ford Falcon lost power in the
opening few laps.

I scored only 104 points from the round, and dropped from seventh to
eighth in the championship.

If I had finished the third race I might have scored enough points to
move up to sixth in the series, so what happened was very disappointing
for both myself and the Stone Brothers Racing team.

A crucial part of doing well on the Gold Coast is qualifying up near the
front of the grid because the track layout makes it difficult to pass
other cars unless someone makes a mistake.

I was third in the opening practice session and fifth after the second
practice. At that stage I felt confident of being able to challenge for
a good qualifying position.

However, I had some problems with tyres in qualifying and finished
ninth. From that point I knew the races would be tough.

In the first race I started ninth and that's where I finished. It was a
case of 'follow the leader' and passing was virtually non-existent among
the top 10 after the first couple of corners.

My cool suit didn't work in the first race which made racing
uncomfortable because the air doesn't circulate as much between the
concrete on street circuits.

I was ninth in the opening laps of the second race, but then dropped
back to 13th when positions got shuffled around by the timing of a
Safety Car. Sometimes Safety Car periods work to your advantage, but in
this instance it cost me track positions.

In the final race my engine started losing power in the early laps and I
started going backwards. I went into the pits and the car was retired.

This year I've finished four rounds on the podium at Hamilton in New
Zealand, Sandown in Victoria, Queensland Raceway, and at Bathurst.

Both SBR and I are keen to return to that performance level for the
final three rounds in Bahrain (November 6-8), Symmons Plains in Tasmania
(November 21-23), and Oran Park in Sydney (December 5-7).

During Indy week I attended several functions on the Gold Coast. These
included the official welcome reception from the Queensland Premier, an
autograph session at Pacific Fair, the V8 Supercars drivers lunch, and
the Miss Indy Ball.

On the Monday after the event I also made two JELD-WEN sponsorship
appearances, at Stegbar at Helensvale and at Regency at Labrador.

The same day I took IndyCar driver Dario Franchitti, plus his brother
Marino and father George, to the SBR workshop to show them around.

I first met Dario at the Gold Coast Indy event in the late 1990s. I
stayed with him when I went to Britain to race Formula Fords, and that's
when I met Marino who is now a good friend.

There were quite a few IndyCar drivers on the Gold Coast who I raced
against when I was based overseas, mostly in Formula 3. They include
Ryan Briscoe and Will Power, E.J Viso, Hideki Mutoh, and Ryan
Hunter-Reay.

I will be flying to Bahrain this Sunday, so I will be there for a week.
The format for this round of the championship will be slightly different
than usual because the event is being held from Thursday to Saturday,
instead of Friday to Sunday.

As in the past all the V8 Supercars competing in Bahrain race will be
flown from Australia by two 747 400 Series Freighter Aircraft.

My car will be on a flight which departs Brisbane on Friday evening. The
other aircraft carrying the race cars leaves Melbourne on Sunday.

This will be our third championship round in Bahrain, which has a
population of 700,000 and is a borderless island in the Persian Gulf
linked to Saudi Arabia by a causeway.

The Bahrain International Circuit is located 22km from the capital city
of Manama, and has hosted Formula One world championship races every
year since 2004.

In the past two years the track has been abrasive, possibly caused by
sand which gets blown onto the surface and the high temperatures. It's a
high-speed circuit and quite wide in many places.

I have good memories from the 2007 round in Bahrain, finishing second
overall. I qualified fifth, and finished sixth, second, and second in
the three races.

Finally, Christmas is fast approaching, and for those of you who may be
looking for presents, or gifts for other occasions, and you may want to consider the
JC merchandise range.

The various items can be purchased elsewhere on my website
(www.jamescourtney.com.au) and on the SBR website
(www.stonebrothersracing.com.au)

Men's and women's cool-dry mesh JC sports t-shirts were recently reduced
from $60 each to $40, and that's a good bargain.

Keep smiling.

JC