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  • Career

Career

1994 Australian National Kart Championship, 2nd

1995 Junior World Kart Championship, 1st, CIK International Championship, 1st

1996 World Formula A Kart Championship, 4th

1997 World Formula A Kart Championship, 1st

2000 British Formula Ford Championship, 1st

2001 British Formula 3 Championship, 4th, Formula One Test Drive debut with Jaguar at Monza

2002 British Formula 3 Championship, 2nd, Formula One Test Driver with Jaguar

2003 Japanese Formula 3 Championship, 1st

2004 Japanese GT Championship, 6th

2005 Japanese GT Championship, 2nd, V8 Supercar Endurance Driver, Holden Racing Team

2006 V8 Supercar Championship Series, Stone Brothers Racing, 11th

2007 V8 Supercar Championship Series, Stone Brothers Racing, 9th

2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series, Stone Brothers Racing, 6th

2009 V8 Supercar Championship Series, Jim Beam Racing, 7th

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1987-1994

James' motor racing career commenced at the age of seven in cadet kart events. James climbed through the karting ranks until 1994 when he was runner-up in the Australian National Kart Championship.

1995-1997

Following his success in Australia, James moved into the international karting scene, and was immediately rewarded with title wins in the FIA Junior World Kart Championship and the FIA CIK International Championship in 1995.

In 1996 he competed in the World Formula A Kart Championship, finishing fourth, and went on to win the 1997 FIA Formula A World Kart Championship the following year.

1999-2000

After many successful years in karting, James moved to a factory drive with Van Deimen in the 1999 British Formula Ford Championship. He repaid Van Diemen's faith in his abilities in 2000, when he won the 2000 British Formula Ford Championship. He also took out the 2000 European Formula Ford Championship.

2001-2002

James moved to the British Formula 3 category in 2001 when he gained a place in the Jaguar Junior team. He finished fourth in the championship and also had his first Formula 1 test drive with the Jaguar F1 team at Monza.

In 2002, he was Jaguar's regular Formula 1 test driver in between his commitments with Carlin Motorsport in the British Formula 3 Championship. He had five race wins during the year and finished runner-up in the Championship.

2003-2005

2003 saw James move to Japan to compete in the Japanese Formula 3 Championship with Toyota. Success was immediate, with James taking the Championship in his first year.

For the next two years, James raced in the Japan GT Championship, again with Toyota. Placing second in the Japan GT Championship in 2005, James also made the trip to Australia to compete in the two endurance races, Sandown and Bathurst, with the Holden Racing Team in 2005.

2006

James's taste of the V8 Supercar Championship Series in the 2005 endurance races was enough to lure him back to Australia for a full season in 2006. James returned to Australia and joined Stone Brothers Racing for the 2006 V8 Supercar Championship driving a JELD-WEN BA Ford Falcon.

He finished 3rd in the Bathurst 1000, he had a podium finish at the Oran Park round & claimed the Mike Kable Rookie of the Year award, and finished 11th in the championship.

2007 

Courtney again raced a JELD-WEN Ford Falcon for Stone Brothers Racing in
the V8 Supercar Championship. In the first round at Adelaide he won pole
position as fastest qualifier and finished second and third in the two
races (each 250km). In October he finished second in the Bathurst 1000,
driving with David Besnard. He was also second in the Bahrain round.
Courtney finished ninth in the championship. During the year he also
competed on the Channel 7 television program 'Dancing With The Stars'.

2008

Courtney finished sixth in the V8 Supercar Championship, driving a
JELD-WEN Ford Falcon for Stone Brothers Racing for a third successive
year. He claimed pole position and won the first of the three races in
the Queensland Raceway round of the series. Courtney had podium finishes
in four rounds furing the championship - third at Hamilton in New
Zealand, Sandown, in Victoria, Queensland Raceway, and in the Bathurst
1000 driving with David Besnard. He finished 34 of the championship 38
races.

2009

Courtney switched to the Queensland-based Jim Beam Racing Racing team
for his fourth successive year in the V8 Supercar Championship. He
finished seventh in the championship driving an FG Falcon, built by
Triple Eight Engineering and powered by a Dick Johnson Racing-built
engine. During the year he won two championship races - they were race
two in Townsville and race two in Sydney. He had four other podium
results, for finishing second in race two in Hamilton in New Zealand,
second in race one at Sandown, second in race one at Queensland Raceway,
and third in race two in Surfers Paradise.