Days after celebrating his 65th birthday, touring car legend Dick Johnson popped the champagne again after his team broke through for Ford’s first win of the 2010 V8 Supercars championship.
And Dick Johnson Racing (DJR) driver James Courtney hinted that the V8 great should keep the bubbly handy after dominating race one at Queensland Raceway on Saturday.
Courtney broke Russell Ingall’s race lap record on the way to finishing more than 13 seconds ahead of Craig Lowndes (Holden), with Ford’s Shane van Gisbergen third in the 120km opener.
He cut Holden gun Jamie Whincup’s championship lead from 204 to 174 points ahead of Sunday’s 200km race.
It was the 75th win for DJR – and one of the sweetest for veteran team owner Johnson.
The former championship-winning driver – who turned 65 on Monday – couldn’t hide his joy on Saturday, hugging Courtney after finally ending old foe Holden’s golden 2010 run.
DJR is the longest-running V8 Supercars team after Johnson started it up 30 years ago in 1980 – the year Courtney was born.
“Good for Dick. He said something colourful along the lines of ‘good job, son’,” Courtney laughed.
“I think it also stamps us as one of the top teams that can win the championship – it is definitely feasible.”
Courtney’s words would have been laughed off not so long ago.
Whincup had won six of the first eight races to date – fellow Holden driver Garth Tander had claimed the other two.
But there is still plenty of fight left in Whincup.
He battled back from surprisingly finishing 12th in qualifying to place fourth on Saturday.
His poor qualifying performance ensured he missed starting on the front row of the grid for a race for the first time this series.
But Courtney was confident of starting his own golden run at Ipswich.
“We always knew we were a good chance this weekend – we have always gone well here,” said Courtney, who broke through for his first win at the Ipswich track in 2008.
“This was probably the sweetest (career win for Courtney) because it was a dominating performance from the team.
“They did a flawless job – I just cruised around.”
Courtney clocked 1min:10:589sec on the second of the race’s 38 laps to break Ingall’s record (1:10.764) and overtook pole sitter Tander by the fifth in a scorching start.
Tander finished fifth.
Lowndes did well after qualifying eighth fastest and appears to have overcome the mechanical gremlins that have haunted his season start.
It was in complete contrast to his teammate Whincup, who is still working out his Holden’s set-up on the sprint tyres that make their 2010 debut at Ipswich.
“I haven’t changed anything as far as my approach goes,” Lowndes said.
“Jamie tried things and they didn’t come off which is unusual.
“But they will learn from that. They will come back smarter and wiser tomorrow.”
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