Blanchard: AGP a 'step forward' amid driver swap, Courtney crash

Tim Blanchard says his team "definitely" took a step forward in Melbourne despite a short lead-in for rookie Aaron Cameron and an early weekend crash for James Courtney.

The Blanchard Racing Team entered Melbourne with a tweaked driver line-up, with news breaking just days out from the event that Aaron Love had departed the Ford squad.

Rising star Cameron was called up to drive the #3 Ford, and despite nursing a broken toe, brought back a straight car to the Blanchard garage.

It was a different story for Courtney, who crashed out of Practice 2 and, as a result, was a non-starter for Race 4. He was then disqualified from qualifying over a technical breach.

Courtney, however, put the disappointment to bed by gaining 15 positions in the next two races, and left Albert Park with the best positional gain per race of all drivers on the grid.

Blanchard shrugged off Courtney's crash, insisting his driver was "pushing hard," and hailed Cameron for putting in a "really good job" despite the last-minute call-up.

"We have definitely taken a step forward this weekend, especially on James Courtney’s car," Blanchard said.

"He is sitting solidly in the championship and his crash on Thursday was the first for quite a while. They happen from time-to-time when you’re pushing hard.

"We learned a lot of things over the weekend and hopefully we’ll have more stable preparation going into NZ.

"Aaron Cameron has joined us full-time in the series, and although a late call-up meant he didn’t have an ideal preparation, the car is straight and he learned a lot. He did a really good job and he will be fine."

Courtney is just 83 points behind 10th-placed Nick Percat heading to Taupō.