CONFIRMED: SYDNEY SUPERCARS TEAM

Struggling star James Courtney is all set to lead a new Sydney based two-car Supercars team from next year.

By MARK FOGARTY

AUTO ACTION can reveal that Courtney will front a start-up squad owned by disaffected GT entrant Rod Salmon and sponsored, at least partially, by Boost Mobile.

The project to establish a team in Sydney has support from Supercars and the NSW government.

Multiple sources have confirmed that wealthy Sydney based businessman/racer Salmon is under-writing the enterprise.

While not ready to announce his involvement, plans are well underway to set up a team in Sydney in an alliance with Tekno Autosports, which will supply its Racing Entitlements Contact (REC).

Courtney is central to the push to establish a team in Sydney, as first revealed by AA early last month.

It will run a pair of Triple Eight-built Holden Commodores, with disenchanted Garry Rogers Motorsport driver Richie Stanaway among the contenders to join Courtney.

Boost Mobile is almost certain to switch its backing from GRM, although the youth-oriented telco won’t necessarily be the Sydney squad’s primary sponsor.

The new team will operate out of western Sydney, taking advantage of a multi-year, multi-million-dollar scheme to establish a Supercars squad in the Harbour City’s outer western suburbs.

It will initially be based at a temporary facility until a NSW government-funded factory at the Sydney Motorsport Park precinct is ready in 2021.

Courtney, 39, is looking to revive his Supercars career after nine largely fruitless years with what is now Walkinshaw Andretti United and formerly Holden Racing Team.

His saviour is wealthy Sydney based businessman racer Rod Salmon, who has been a prominent competitor in GT3 Audi R8 LMSs for many years.

Salmon has been absent from the Australian GT championship for the past two seasons as part of a dispute between leading teams and the organisers.

He co-promotes and competes in the GT-1 Australia series, which is run under the auspices of the Australian Auto Sport Alliance as part of the Australian Motor Racing Series.

His disenchantment with mainstream GT racing in Australia and the opportunity to establish a team in Sydney are behind his decision to switch his support to Supercars with his own team.

It will be the first V8 team based in Sydney since Lansvale Racing, whose entry was sold at the end of 2003.

Salmon is taking over two of up to six RECs that are on the market – or eight if you include the handed-in pair held by Supercars.

There is talk of the Sydney squad absorbing Tekno Autosports’ entry or using its REC in a partial partnership.

With RECs readily available and cheap, the Courtney led Supercars team has no shortage of options.

It will all become much clearer when entries for next year’s Supercars championship close shortly after this week’s Bathurst 1000.

Boost Mobile is in line to be a major backer of the proposed Sydney team, although AA understands it is just one of a number of potential major sponsors.

Former V8 Utes racer, Supercars administrator and Ipswich Motorsport Park manager Damien White, who now works for Salmon, is in line to run the team.

A management role for former Holden Motorsport manager Simon McNamara has also been discussed.

The new Salmon-owned team will run two Holden Commodores, with Courtney to be joined by an as-yet-undecided younger driver.

The 2010 Supercars champion has been at the centre of speculation about leading a Sydney based team since he announced he would be leaving Walkinshaw Andretti United at the end of this season.

In nine years at Clayton under the guises of Holden Racing Team, Walkinshaw Racing and WAU, Courtney has won just seven races – with his last victory on 2016.

An undeniable talent, internationally honed Courtney has been unable to live up to his potential since his high-priced defection to HRT in 2011 after winning the title with Dick Johnson Racing.

His time at Clayton has coincided with the Walkinshaw squad’s demise as a front-running force and he finally decided to leave without waiting to see if he would be re-signed for 2020.

AA is reliably informed that Courtney no longer believes WAU will rebound, despite promises of an engineering overhaul.

He questions Chaz Mostert’s decision to defect from Ford to Holden in a big money multi-year deal to switch from Tickford Racing to WAU next year.

Courtney, the eldest regular driver in Supercars, is convinced he can revive his Supercars career with the new Sydney based team, which will have big backing.

Salmon and his advisors, including ex-Holden Motorsport boss Simon McNamara, have been working behind the scenes to attract to engineering talent, including offering cost-of-living bonuses to move to Sydney.

The new Courtney led Supercars team will initially be based in Western Sydney not far from Eastern Creek before moving to a multi-million-dollar facility at Sydney Motorsport Park in 2021.

The NSW government is funding the establishment of a motor sport industrial park at SMP, with a Supercars team the showcase of the precinct.

Supercars is also providing incentives because it perceives marketing advantages in having a team in Australia’s biggest city for the first time since 2003.

The combined value of the inducements is said be worth “many millions”, with most of the multi-year funding coming from the NSW government to support the establishment of the team and construction of a state-of-the-art factory as part of the SMP ‘motor sport hub’.

Despite his youthful image and charming personality, Courtney’s age counts against Boost Mobile switching its backing entirely from poor-performing Garry Rogers Motorsport.

GRM and volatile global Boost boss Peter Adderton have been at loggerheads over the team’s lack of results, which are almost certain to trigger a performance clause break in the multi-year agreement after next week’s Bathurst 1000.

However, it is likely Boost will get on board with the new Sydney team if frustrated New Zealander Richie Stanaway, 27, gets the second seat.

Stanaway has been enduring a horror injury-interrupted season with Boost Mobile Racing-branded GRM.

Boost is also believed to be talking with Walkinshaw Andretti United about a return if Stanaway is slotted in alongside Mostert.

While on course, the Sydney team deal hasn’t been fully finalised and existing team owners argue it doesn’t make financial sense. Many have been offered the opportunity and have rejected it.

Speculation still persists that the Sydney team scenario isn’t viable and that Courtney will join Tickford Racing to replace Mostert in the Supercheap Auto Racing entry.

However, to AA’s almost certain knowledge, Tickford’s four-car line-up is locked in, with Jack Le Brocq taking over from Mostert alongside multi-year renewal Cam Waters.

Lee Holdsworth looks set to keep his The Bottle-O Mustang drive following his recent revival, while Will Davison is locked in at customer 23Red Racing.

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