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James Courtney says Marcos Ambrose tried to warn him Stone Brothers Racing’s best days were behind them before he joined in 2006.
Speaking on the latest episode of the Speedcafe Podcast, Courtney revealed just how high his expectations were ahead of joining SBR for the 2006 Supercars season.
The ex-Jaguar F1 test driver was returning to Australia off the back of a long stint overseas and signed with the all-conquering SBR squad as a replacement for NASCAR-bound Ambrose.
When the deal was signed in SBR had won two titles on the bounce with Ambrose, and was on the verge of a third thanks to Russell Ingall.
Based on that form, Courtney thought he was headed for instant success – a theory he held even after Ambrose tried to warn him that SBR’s best days were behind them at the penultimate round in Tasmania.
“One hundred percent, that’s exactly what I thought,” he told Mark Fogarty in a fascinating interview.
“And then I went to Tasmania for the round to watch with [team owners] Ross and Jimmy [Stone]. I knew Marcos really well, because we were teammates in Formula Ford in England, and I rolled up there and Marcos said to me – I’ll never forget it – he said, ‘mate, you’re too late. It’s a sinking ship’.
“And I was like, ‘what? This guy doesn’t know what he’s on about. He’s just angry because he doesn’t want anyone else to have success in his team’.
“But yeah, it wasn’t as easy as what I hoped it was going to be.
“I thought that was going to be a plug and play. I thought it was just going to be, ‘line up the trophies boys, get the engraver out, we’re going to be whipping our names on them’.
Courtney’s three-year stint at SBR was far from an overwhelming success, yielding a single race win before he departed for Dick Johnson Racing.
He would go on to win the Supercars title with DJR in 2010.
SBR didn’t win another title before it was sold to Betty Klimenko in 2012 and became Erebus Motorsport.
Hear more from Courtney and his incredible life story by listening to the latest Speedcafe Podcast.
