V8 SUPERCAR CHAMPIONSHIP: Event 3, Clipsal 500, Adelaide, South Australia

Jim Beam Racing Ford Falcon driver James Courtney recovered from qualifying 16th to finish second in today's first race of the Clipsal 500 V8 Supercar Championship event in Adelaide.

Courtney finished the 78-lap race on the 3.2km street circuit just 4.042-seconds behind winner Garth Tander (Holden Racing Team).

The result was Courtney's first podium finish of 2010 and lifted him from fifth to third in the championship behind Jamie Whincup (Team Vodafone) and Mark Winterbottom (Ford Performance Racing).

Courtney's performance means he has now either won or finished on the podium in races on all five championship street circuits in the past 12 months - in Adelaide, Hamilton in New Zealand, Townsville, Surfers Paradise, and Sydney.

Before today's race, the JELD-WEN sponsored driver had his worst qualifying result of 2010. He had qualified third twice and fifth on two occasions for the four previous races this year. However, his preparation for qualifying was affected by being restricted to seven laps in practice yesterday because of engine and fuel pump problems.

In the race, Courtney was 14th after the opening lap, and moved forward into the top three by lap 27. He improved to second by passing Whincup after his third and final pit stop.

Courtney clocked the fastest lap of today's race with a time of 1-min 22.392-secs. He set the time of lap 61. The event will be completed by another 250km race tomorrow.

COURTNEY RESULTS:
Qualifying: 16th, (best lap 1-min 22.191-secs)
Race (78 laps): 2nd (best lap 1-min 22.394-secs)
Fastest lap of race: James Courtney (Jim Beam Racing) 1-min 22.394-secs

COURTNEY QUOTES: "It's been crazy here. We had dramas with the car yesterday, qualifying didn't go as well as planned, but after all that I finished the race on the podium. Unfortunately I couldn't push for the win in my last stint because I had to conserve fuel. We were running low at the end. My car was much better in the race. We went the wrong way with set-up in qualifying, but it gave us a direction for the race. It's been a while since I started a race mid-pack, and the first few laps were pretty chaotic. I made some passes and had a trouble-free run to get up with the front guys. Mid-race I ran close behind Tander hoping he would make a mistake, but it didn't happen. He left a gap once and I had a go - we made contact and he was pushed sideways a bit, but he gathered it up again and kept going. Hopefully I can qualify higher up tomorrow and go for the win. The track has more bumps than before, but that's street racing - you deal with it."

CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: Jamie Whincup (Holden) 720, Mark Winterbottom (Ford) 585, James Courtney (Ford) 558, Shane Van Gisbergen (Ford) 510, Lee Holdsworth (Holden) 501

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

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

TWITTER: http://twitter.com/jcourtney18