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After a typically competitive street circuit showing in Townsville, Queensland Raceway looms as a major acid test for the Holden Racing Team’s latest development direction.
The weekend saw James Courtney record the squad’s best qualifying result of the year and its highest finish since the Adelaide season opener.
Second on Sunday ended a run of 11 straight races without a podium, triggering scenes of jubilation among the HRT’s results starved crew.
Although the second place finish was set up by a late tyre strategy gamble, the HRT cars had at least proven top six contenders on merit throughout the weekend.
With street circuits having repeatedly brought results spikes in recent years, however, team boss Adrian Burgess admits that the next event at Ipswich will provide a true read of progress.
“The team will get a lift from Townsville but we clearly still need to do some work,” Burgess told Speedcafe.com.
“We think we’re developing the path that we need to go down.
“We did more work on it this weekend, building on what we’d done with James on the Sunday in Darwin.
“That path is still giving us indications that we’re heading the right way, but the jury is still out.
“We know what we want to try at Ipswich, so I’m excited about that and if we can come out of there having made some improvement I’ll be happy.
“The hard work is still in front of us but we feel we know where we need to go with the car.”
Courtney stressed in the wake of his second place finish that he had been running competitively prior to the strategy gamble, describing it as a pressure release for the team.
“Sure we put on the tyres and came through, but prior to that we were running fifth,” he said.
“The car was legitimately pretty speedy. We didn’t have the pace of the top two, but we were in the next bunch.
“There’s a lot of pressure on all the blokes… Adrian probably looks about three years younger (after the result).
“That critter has got a bit of pressure on his shoulders and I’m sure that relieves a little for him.”
The squad’s recent struggles have come during a critical negotiation period with major backer Holden, the result of which will in turn have a major bearing on Courtney’s future.
The 36-year-old has publicly floated the possibility that he could leave the category next year and take up opportunities offshore.
Courtney has been a full-timer in Supercars since 2006, joining the championship after stints in England and Japan.
He joined the HRT as the reigning champion in 2011, finishing 10th, 10th, 11th, 6th and 10th in his five season with the squad.
Courtney heads to the July 22-24 Coates Hire Ipswich Super Sprint ninth in the standings, one place ahead of team-mate Garth Tander.
