SUPERCARS champion. Budding television star. Now high-ranking open-wheel referee?
It’s the latest string to James Courtney’s bow that may well prove to be more than a one-off.
Courtney was called up by the FIA to perform a driving standards advisor-type role – akin to what Craig Baird does in Supercars – for Formula 2 and Formula 3 at last month’s Australian Grand Prix.
It was a notable change of pace for the veteran who’ll get back behind the wheel of a Supercar at The Bend 500 and Bathurst 1000 later this year.
“It was interesting being on the other side,” Courtney confessed to V8 Sleuth.
“I felt like an arsehole handing out jumpstarts, especially when you know the expense that the kids are paying and that sort of stuff and I know that it doesn’t create a huge advantage when the wheel just slightly turns, but the rules are the rules.
“So that side of it was pretty average, but on the other side when guys balls up, like in the F2 race when the two teammates caught each other and passed and brake-tested him, that was some average driving.
“It was funny being on the other side and seeing him try to wriggle out of it.”
The matter Courtney is referring to is when Rodin Motorsport teammates Alex Dunne and Martinius Stenshorne collided while dicing for the lead of the F2 feature race at Albert Park.
The moment Alex Dunne and Martinius Stenshorne made contact. Source: Kayo Sports
Both cars retired from the race, and Dunne would collect a five-place grid drop for the next feature race – at Monaco in June.
Courtney did consult Baird, not on that particular incident but how to handle the overall experience: “He was laughing and saying it was going to be interesting for me, which he was right.”
All told, the door might now be open for Courtney to do more in this space.
“The only other F3/F2 event over this side of the world is Macau at the end of the year,” he said.
“We’ll see if I get invited back. But they asked if I’d be open to other opportunities and I said ‘I would definitely have a look at it’.”
The 2026 Macau Grand Prix will be held across November 19-22, which happens to be the weekend between Supercars’ Sandown semi-finals and Adelaide Grand Final.
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