James Courtney was never worried that Team Sydney, which broke cover at today’s Supercars Championship season launch, was ever going to materialise.
While the team formerly known as Tekno Autosports is yet to announce a second driver, that entry and its racing number have been confirmed, and Courtney’s #19 Coca-Cola ZB Commodore has now been shown off to the public in Sydney.
There had been doubts that the project would come together, at least in time for the 2020 season, after little news came from the Tekno/Team Sydney camp since its high-profile announcement at last year’s Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.
The departure of Rod Salmon as one of the backers of Team Sydney was also a notable setback, and team boss Jonathon Webb was cagey when contacted by Speedcafe.com in mid-January.
However, Courtney and Jonathon Webb insist that it was a case of simply working diligently in the background.
“I think I annoyed the crap out of a lot of people us not returning calls and saying I’d call you back,” Courtney told Speedcafe.com.
“You can see now why I didn’t want to talk or anything, we were making sure to keep everything down and say something when we could.
“It’s quite fitting to be here under the Sydney Harbour Bridge, championship launch, Team Sydney, and to be able to stand here now is fantastic and show everyone what we’ve been working on.
“I think because we’ve been quiet, everyone just made up their own stories as to how things were going to play out.
“Obviously there was a little bit of a change when Rod was involved and then he stepped aside, but as for if it was ever going to happen or not, no (concerns).
“Jon and Kobe (Webb, partner/Tekno Group CEO), ever since coming onboard with the project, have just been flat out working really aggressively and hard behind the scenes as a group to try and bring everything together, and everyone gets to be able to stand here now and do this.”
Jonathon Webb himself said, “It’s obviously been plenty of work in the background, chipping away.
“It’s good to finally come out and show everyone stage one of what Team Sydney is going to look like.”
He also affirmed that the off-season had not been a stressful period for the Team Sydney camp.
“No, I just put my head down and worked away,” explained Webb.
“I think most of the media made up their own story along the way, but from my point of view it’s just getting in and getting it done.”
Team Sydney’s cars are currently still based in southeast Queensland being serviced by Triple Eight Race Engineering and will head to South Australia directly, before arriving in Sydney after the Superloop Adelaide 500.
The driver for its #22 ZB Commodore and engineers are set to be announced prior to the BP Ultimate SuperTest which takes place at The Bend on Tuesday, February 18, two days prior to opening practice in Adelaide.
Discussion about this post