In the modern era of professional motorsport it's easy to overlook the
valuable contribution made by enthusiastic volunteers who work at our
events as unpaid marshals and officials.

These volunteers are seldom recognised, but they are the 'grassroots'
heroes of our sport because without them those of us privileged to be
fulltime drivers would not be able to race.

For example, at Queensland Raceway last weekend I'm told there were 148
volunteers, performing a variety of tasks at the eighth event of the V8
Supercar Championship.

They worked as flag, fire, grid and pit-lane marshals, and various in
positions in the recovery, medical, scrutineering, timing, race control,
and medical teams.

Many of them were operating outdoors in ambient temperatures of
34-degrees, and at other events they work in contrasting and equally
uncomfortable cold weather.

The bulk of the volunteers at the track last weekend were from
Queensland, but there were others from New South Wales, Victoria, and
the Northern Territory who paid their own travel expenses and
accommodation.

Unlike drivers, the volunteers don't have podium presentations, and they
can't escape hot or cold weather with a short stroll to an
air-conditioned transporter, or hospitality suite, between practice and
qualifying sessions.

These volunteers help out because they are fans of the sport and want to
contribute. Their dedication is something I admire and appreciate,
because I have benefited from their work since I started racing karts.

As for racing last weekend, my results in the Jim Beam Racing Falcon
were the same as in the previous championship event at Sandown three
weeks earlier.

I finished second in the first race over 100km, using 'sprint' tyres,
and eighth in race two driving solely on 'control' rubber.

At both Sandown and Queensland Raceway I scored 228 championship points.
Before Sandown I was 17th in the points, and now I'm ninth so that's a
big improvement.

I made a good start at Queensland Raceway, clocking the fastest lap time
in Friday practice with 1-minute 10.814-seconds around the bumpy 3.1km
layout.

The next day I was second in qualifying, and then third in the Top 10
Shoot Out to claim a second-row starting position for the first race,
over 100km (32 laps).

I had a close battle in race one with Jamie Whincup, who also started on
the 'sprint' tyres. We swapped the lead a few times, but the Team
Vodafone Falcon beat me by 0.587-seconds.

I knew the second race over 200km (65 laps) would be more challenging
because Will Davison (Holden Racing Team), Craig Lowndes (Team Vodafone)
and some others had 'sprint' tyres.

In qualifying I was fourth, and after the race started I settled into
fourth before my first pitstop. Unfortunately I had a brake problem and
lost contact with Mark Winterbottom and Steven Richards from Ford
Performance Racing.

During my final stint I was passed by Russell Ingall and Paul Dumbrell,
who both had 'sprint' tyres on their Commodores.

In recent Channel 7 race telecasts there has been vision shown from an
in-car camera aimed at my feet, and quite a few people have asked me
about my driving technique.

The 'foot' camera is mounted on the inside of the door. It is one of six
in-car cameras in my Falcon, and viewers can see my feet moving on the
various pedals.

I use the 'heel-and-toe' driving technique, which means I apply the
right foot on the brake and accelerator pedals. I find this keeps the
rear of the car more stable under braking. I only use my left foot on
the clutch when downshifting.

This vision of my black and gold Alpinestars boots in motion shows how
busy the drivers are inside the car when driving at racing speed.

My in-car 'office' also includes about 10 buttons on the steering wheel
to operate things such as headlights, radio, pit-lane speed limiter,
electric handbrake, and to access data and information including lap
times, speeds, and temperatures. I can scroll down the data page if I
wish.

Usually I speak to my engineer Scott Sinclair once a lap and sometimes
more, depending on the situation.

Also in the car is a dry ice box to keep my cool suit working. There are
vents in the roof of the car and fan-forced ventilation into my Arai
helmet to make driving as comfortable as possible.

Now our attention turns to the two endurance races, over 500km at Philip
Island (September 11-13) and 1,000km at Bathurst.

These are two of my favourite races. In 2008 I finished sixth at Phillip
Island, and I've been on the podium in each of the past three years at
Bathurst.

My team-mate Steve Johnson is fifth in the championship, so we should be
very competitive in both endurance races. Luck shouldn't be a factor,
but it is, and hopefully we have plenty of it!

It's impossible to predict the outcome of endurance races, but I will be
trying my best for everyone in our team, Jim Beam and our other sponsors
and supporters, and my personal sponsors JELD-WEN.

Big news among the Courtney clan recently is my wife Carys is expecting
our second child. We've been told the arrival date is February 14, which
is Valentine's Day. All of us are very excited, and soon our daughter
Zara will have a playmate.

Keep smiling.

JC

QUEENSLAND RACEWAY RESULTS - JAMES COURTNEY
EVENT 8, V8 Supercar Championship, (August-21-23)

Qualifying - Race 1: 2nd
Top 10 Shoot Out - Race 1: 3rd
Race 1 Result: 2nd
Qualifying - Race 2: 4th
Race 2 Result: 8th

CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS (after event 8): Jamie Whincup (Ford) 2,007; Will
Davison (Holden) 1,824; Garth Tander (Holden) 1,479; Craig Lowndes
(Ford) 1,478; Steven Johnson (Ford) 1,374; Mark Winterbottom (Ford)
1,332; Lee Holdsworth (Holden) 1,269; Russell Ingall (Holden) 1,187;
James Courtney (Ford) 1,154; Michael Caruso (Holden) 1,134