Former series champion James Courtney has declared the Holden Racing Team’s rebuilding process officially over, warning there are no more excuses for the factory squad.

Courtney will start from third and fifth in today’s twin 125km races and is pleased with the direction the Adrian Burgess-led squad has taken after the first competitive sessions of the season.

“We are into it and going for it and there is no excuse, we need to win,” Courtney said.

“And if we don’t win it’s not good enough.

“There’s only so long you can say you’re in a rebuilding phase.

“We’ve done four years of that so the building is built.

“The tool we have got this year is a lot better.”

Courtney, the 2014 Clipsal 500 champion, said he is using the recent Red Bull domination as motivation this season.

Red Bull star Jamie Whincup was in ominous form on Friday, charging to pole position for both of today’s races.

“Everyone wants to win all the time but unfortunately it’s not that way for us at the moment,” Courtney said.

“It’s motivation. If they (Red Bull) weren’t in the championship then it wouldn’t be as good as it is.

“Jamie did a sensational job and we’ve got to find these little bits and perfect it.”

Courtney says there are a few areas of set-up that need to be addressed to produce a more neutral handling car.

“There’s a few things we need to clean up which won’t give us massive lap time but will make it easier to drive,” he said.

The V8 Supercars will take to the track for a final 20 minute practice session at 1010 before the first of the afternoon’s races at 1345.