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James Courtney’s driver manager Alan Gow is in Melbourne and will spend the weekend at Sandown Raceway sorting Courtney’s driving future.
Gow arrived in Australia recently and will stay in his former hometown with the intention of securing his client’s 2011 team before heading back to his base in the UK.
Besides his role as Courtney’s driver manager, Gow is the boss of the British Touring Car Championship and was recently appointed the President of the FIA’s Touring Car Commission.
While the Jim Beam Racing driver still has a year to run on his current contract with Dick Johnson Racing, the team’s ownership turmoil is set to see the championship leading driver split from his arrangement.
Last Monday, Speedcafe.com.au reported that the famous DJR squad is likely to split, with founder Johnson and co-owner Charlie Schwerkolt taking one Racing Entitlements Contract each.
It is believed that Schwerkolt will have an entry prepared out of Ford Performance Racing as a fourth Falcon, with Courtney tipped as its driver. Courtney has also been linked to switching manufacturers, replacing Will Davison at the Toll Holden Racing Team.
Courtney maintains that no deal is in place for him in 2011 and hopes that Gow’s presence will go some way to clearing his future direction.
“He’s come out to try and make some sense of it and work out exactly what’s going on and what options there are and if this happens what we can do, or if that happens what we can do,” Courtney said.
“He wants to know, I want to know, Charlie wants to know, Dick wants to know, but no one seems to know.
“One hundred percent serious, I have no ties with anyone, apart from DJR. I can’t do anything until something happens with the team.”
Courtney leads the V8 Supercars Championship Series by 50 points over TeamVodafone’s Jamie Whincup. Courtney has been at the top of the tables since Winton in May, but admits the last few months have been tough.
“When you’re young and your mum and dad have a blue, it’s always a bit tense,” he said.
“It’s not the ideal working condition, it’s what we’ve got but so we’ll make do with what we have.
“It has been an unbelievable two or three months with everything that’s going on and off the track.”
The V8 Supercars will hold a qualifying session today at 11.20am before the race at 4.05pm.
