Courtney car in assembly after clean-up

James Courtney’s #5 Snowy River Caravans Mustang is already being reassembled after a rapid clean-up effort following his Albert Park fire.

Courtney was forced out of last Saturday’s race at the Beaurepaires Melbourne SuperSprint due to a front-left fire.

The 2010 champion managed to bring the car into pit lane, where marshals and various team members put out the flames.

Courtney was unharmed in the incident, but due to the damage, was unable to start Sunday’s finale.

Tickford Racing opted to return the damaged car to its Campbellfield base and started the clean-up process the Monday after the event.

After a two-day clean-up effort, Tickford staff are already preparing the car for assembly ahead of the Bosch Power Tools Perth SuperSprint.

Pic: XPB Images

“We started working on it in earnest on Monday morning,” Tickford CEO and Team Principal Tim Edwards told Supercars.com.

“The guys came in, completely stripped it, and probably spent two days non-stop trying to clean it.

“You’ve got the aftermath of the fire, but the extinguisher fire is corrosive, it gets into everything.

“They stripped it back to a bare shell, literally from the windscreen forward.

"A little bit behind that as well, but largely nothing left on the front of the car.

“It went off to the paint shop at about four o’clock yesterday [Tuesday].

"It’s already back in the workshop painted, and they’re now in the assembly phase already.”

The engine has been taken to control Ford supplier Herrod Performance Engines.

It’s the second repair effort on Courtney’s Ford in as many races after he crashed out of the Sunday ARMOR ALL Top Ten Shootout in Newcastle.

Courtney was forced to miss the Newcastle finale after he crashed heavily on his Shootout lap.

The Albert Park incident meant Courtney was forced into a second DNS in as many events.

It ended a torrid weekend for the Ford veteran, who lost a podium in Race 4 due to his involvement in an incident that saw David Reynolds buried in the Turn 1 gravel.

The 15-time race winner is 24th in the points standings ahead of Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Nick Percat, who also suffered a fire in his Mustang in Melbourne.

The 2023 Repco Supercars Championship will resume at the Bosch Power Tools Perth SuperSprint on April 28-30.