THURSDAY, MARCH 12: James Courtney established himself among the favourites for next week's V8 Supercar Championship opener by emerging fastest in yesterday's official pre-season test in his debut for Jim Beam Racing.

Courtney clocked the quickest test lap time of 1-minute 11.111-seconds around the 3.1km Queensland Raceway track near Ipswich in his new Jim Beam Racing FG Falcon.

"Look at all those 'ones' in the lap time - there's six of them!" he quipped. "Hopefully it's a good omen because No 1 is where I want to be all season."

The 28-year-old Gold Coast-based racer, who finished sixth in the 2008 championship, recorded his best time at the test on his 17th of 72 laps spread over four sessions. Russell Ingall was second fastest in a Holden, followed by Falcon foursome Craig Lowndes, Fabian Coulthard, 2008 champion Jamie Whincup, and Courtney's team-mate Steve Johnson.

Courtney's quickest time was just 0.376-seconds outside his pole position-winning lap of 1-minute 10.735-seconds in the 2008 championship round at Queensland Raceway.

He said the performance of his new car had left him brimming with confidence for the two 250km races in the championship opener, the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide from March 19-22.

"Roll on Adelaide - I can't wait to get started," said Courtney.

"You don't win championships at a pre-season test, but everything went great and we've made a statement that we will be competitive."

"I was pushing hard during the test and the car was fast and strong all day. It will be quicker in Adelaide with new tyres and more development work."

Courtney, who joined Jim Beam Racing for 2009 after three years driving for Stone Brothers Racing, said he spent most of yesterday's test experimenting and evaluating different settings.

"We tried a lot of different things, which you have to do with a new car, to see how it reacted to the changes and that will give us a guide for the future," he said.

"The car seems very forgiving - if you get into a corner too 'hot' it slides gradually, rather than an aggressive snap."

Courtney, who finished on the podium the past three years in the Bathurst 1000 race, said a bonus from the test was the opportunity to drive in wet weather conditions in the final session.

"It was good to do some laps and see how the car handles the wet, and check some of the basics and make sure things like the wipers and windscreen heaters are all working the way they should," he said.

NOTE: In the 2007 championship round in Adelaide, Courtney qualified on pole position and finished second and third in the two races. He clocked the fastest lap in both races. In 2008 he qualified second in Adelaide, finished 16th in the first race, after leading from laps 4-40, and crashed in race two after contact with Lowndes.

RESULTS - V8 SUPERCAR TEST (Queensland Raceway, March 11):
POS DRIVER   CAR       TIME
1. James Courtney  Jim Beam Racing Falcon    1:11.111
2. Russell Ingall   Supercheap Auto Holden Commodore  1:11.242
3. Craig Lowndes  Team Vodafone Falcon    1:11.281
4. Fabian Coulthard  Wilson Security Falcon    1:11.482
5. Jamie Whincup  Team Vodafone Falcon    1:11.660
6. Steve Johnson   Jim Beam Racing Falcon    1:11.667
7. Alex Davison   Stone Brothers Racing Falcon   1:11.899
8. Tim Slade   Supercheap Auto Holden Commodore  1:12.058
9. Shane Van Gisbergen  Stone Brothers Racing Falcon   1:12.079
10. David Russell   Howard Racing Falcon    1:12.224
11. Jason Bright   Britek Motorsport Falcon    1:12.224
12. Michael Patrizi  Wilson Security Falcon    1:12.371

MEDIA ENQUIRIES: Mike Porter - Tel: (0417) 311-997. E-mail: mikep@qldnet.com.au

PHOTOGRAPHS: high-resolution jpeg images of James Courtney from testing at Queensland Raceway available for media/editorial use