Courtney and Hall will be part of Team 18’s three-pronged enduro attack this season, the former as David Reynolds’ co-driver and the latter in the Supercheap Auto wildcard alongside Craig Lowndes.
While both are new to Team 18, they arrive with a long-standing connection that started in a Gold Coast driveway, rather than at a race track.
When Courtney returned from his overseas sojourn to race Supercars in the mid-2000s he found himself living next to the Hall family in Hope Island.
He quickly struck up a friendship with Bayley’s father Roy, one that continues to this day.
“Roy originally worked with my uncle and when he came to visit me at home he introduced me to Roy, who was living across the road,” Courtney explained to Speedcafe.
“Bayley and [sister] Shayla were just babies at the time. Roy and I were a lot younger than we are now so we’d get together and drink all the time.
Click here to find out how.
“Then they moved, and then we moved near them again. So we’ve been in the same street for the last 20-odd years.”
At that time Hall Sr, who works in finance and insurance, had little idea how to run a go-kart for his son – and was appreciative of help and advice from Courtney.
“I used to work on the go-kart in the driveway and I’m a financial planner by trade so I had no idea what I was doing.
“James would drive past my house and just have a giggle because there I am with a go-kart and I’m trying to get ready to go racing, wearing a suit and tie.
“Then I’d pick Bayley up from school, the go-kart on the back, and we’d go to Toowoomba or Warwick or wherever.
“James would always come over with a smile and give us a bit of inspiration.”
Two decades later and Hall Jr is an accomplished Porsche driver who is now making the switch to Supercars via both the Supercheap Auto wildcard program and a Super2 drive with Eggleston Motorsport.
And with that family connection, there is a unique significance to the fact that Courtney and Hall will be teammates in Supercars this year.
“It’s pretty cool, it’s great for [the family],” added Courtney.
“It brings back all those memories from when I first made it and got my big break. You have all of that emotion come back.
“It might not be the same level as when it’s your own experience, but I can see it in Roy and [wife] Dee’s faces, how emotional they are. I remember that moment for my parents.
“So it’s pretty cool to be able to be part of that, there’s not many times you get to see that through your career.
“I know how emotional it will be for them when Bayley rolls out for the first time.”
Courtney is one of several friendly neighbourhood faces that have been pivotal in guiding the Hall’s on Bayley’s motorsport journey, including the likes of Ross Stone and Team 18 team principal Adrian Burgess.
“I do all of the life insurance for the drivers, so we’ve got to know a lot of people in the industry over time,” said Roy Hall.
“Ross Stone lived in our street and was always an advocate for young talent.
“And Adrian as well. We’re best mates with Adrian, he lives in Hope Island as well and we see him a lot.
“He’s been a really good mentor for Bayley, and us as a family, to choose the right direction.
“We went the Porsche way to start with, and all of the cars are much the same, so we didn’t know with budgets and so on which team you go with in Super2.
“Obviously now we have this connection with Team 18 and Eggleston Motorsport for Bayley, which is amazing.
“We’ve got Richard Holway engineering the Super2 car and the main game car. That’s going to give him continuity which is awesome.”
Discussion about this post