TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9: Jim Beam Racing Falcon driver James Courtney emerged second fastest in today's official pre-season test at Queensland Raceway in preparation for the 2010 V8 Supercar Championship series.

A total of 13 Ford Falcons and Holden Commodores participated in the test, ahead of the opening championship event at Abu Dhabi from February 18-20. Victorian-based teams had a similar official pre-season test at Winton Raceway near Benalla yesterday.

Courtney clocked the second fastest lap in today's test with a time of 1-minute 10.761-seconds around the 3.1km circuit near Ipswich. He set the time in the second of the two sessions, after a new set of tyres were fitted to his FG Falcon.

The 29-year-old Gold Coast driver completed a total of 105 laps during the test, 48 of them in the first session and 57 in the second session. Light rain fell at various stages during both sessions.

New Zealander Shane Van Gisbergen was fastest in the test with a lap of 1-minute 10.741-seconds in an SP Tools Falcon. Van Gisbergen and Courtney were the only drivers to better the race lap record of 1-minute 10.764-seconds set by Russell Ingall in a Commodore in 2009.

Courtney finished seventh in the 2009 championship, with two race wins and six podium finishes. Earlier this month he became a father for the second time when wife Carys gave birth to a son, Cadel, a brother to Zara born in January 2008.

JAMES COURTNEY QUOTES: "I've been busy with family things recently, so it was good to get back into a race car again. Everything felt fast at first, which is normal coming off a two-month break. I did a couple of long stints to start with to familiarise myself, and it didn't take long to get comfortable. We have a good base set-up with this car from last year, so we tried some different things outside our normal 'window' to see how the car responded. We didn't have a lot of good tyres to use, so in the second session we waited for the weather to clear before the new rubber went on the car. I did five or six short stints, and I was able to keep doing good lap times as the types got older. The track grip wasn't that good today, especially at the start, but it got better. I did more than 100 laps and my fitness seems good. This is my second season with Jim Beam Racing - we have got good continuity our whole package and I can't wait for the racing to start."

NOTE: James Courtney can now be followed on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jcourtney18 or click on the Twitter link on the home page of his website: http://www.jamescourtney.com.au

RESULTS - V8 SUPERCAR TEST (Queensland Raceway, February 9):
POS DRIVER   CAR       LAP TIME
1. Shane Van Gisbergen  SP Tools Ford Falcon     1:10.741
2. James Courtney  Jim Beam Racing Ford Falcon   1:10.761
3. Russell Ingall   Supercheap Auto Holden Commodore  1:10.883
4. Jonathon Webb  Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon   1:11.052
5. Dean Fiore   Bing Lee/Panasonic Ford Falcon   1:11.157
6. Steve Johnson   Jim Beam Racing Ford Falcon   1:11.165
7. Alex Davison   Irwin Tools Ford Falcon    1:11.181
8. Greg Murphy/Paul Morris Castrol Holden Commodore    1:11.451
9. Tim Slade   Wilson Security Ford Falcon    1:11.561
10. Craig Lowndes  Team Vodafone Holden Commodore   1:11.636
11. Jamie Whincup  Team Vodafone Holden Commodore   1:11.672

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

WEBSITE: http://www.jamescourtney.com.au

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