The worlds of movies and Supercars collides every time James Courtney takes a victory.
Courtney’s race winning celebration pays homage to the character ‘Frank The Tank’ from the 2003 film Old School. A recently married man, Frank Ricard has conformed to sensibility and a new life with his wife until he loses control at a house party leading to the re-emergence of ‘Frank the Tank’.
A decade ago on the Gold Coast, Courtney took Sunday’s race victory alongside Jack Perkins and the duo memorably re-enacted the double-fist pump of ‘Frank The Tank’.
Courtney had experienced a slim year to date after only winning on the streets of Adelaide at the start of the season before taking victory on the Gold Coast six months later.
Competing in his fifth year as part of the Holden Racing Team, Courtney had arrived at the Clayton-based squad at a low point in its history. While not a consistent title challenger, Courtney did elevate HRT back to the winner’s circle on the occasion.
Gold Coast marked Courtney’s return to the track following a freak incident at Sydney Motorsport Park where a low flying helicopter led to a metal sheet flying free. This struck Courtney, resulting in two fractured ribs and pneumothorax.
“It’s definitely the biggest hit I’ve had. It floored me – just breathing and moving everything is painful,” said Courtney.
“Because of the injury to my lungs I have to try and keep breathing as deep as possible to force the fluid out and keep the lung full so it’s a lot of pain.”
Although the plan was for Courtney to not miss a round and return for the Sandown 500, this didn’t occur as he was also absent for the Bathurst 1000 too.
In a strong return, Courtney and Perkins climbed from 13th on the grid to finish fifth in the opening 300km endurance event on Saturday.
Sunday’s qualifying result forced another charge through the field from 11th, but this time Courtney and Perkins sealed victory.
‘Frank The Tank’ made a return on the Gold Coast in customary Courtney style.
The veteran is now in his final full-season of Repco Supercars Championship action a decade on and ‘Frank The Tank’ has made just one appearance since the Gold Coast when Courtney won on the streets of Adelaide just four months later.
Can Courtney return to the top of the podium in the future? We’d definitely like to witness ‘Frank The Tank’ again!