Walkinshaw: We have arrived

Holden Racing Team owner Ryan Walkinshaw has declared his team ready to pry the V8 Supercars Championship from Red Bull Racing Australia.

Walkinshaw was ecstatic after James Courtney won his second consecutive Clipsal 500 yesterday, driving from ARMOR ALL Pole Position and powering home unflinchinglydespite the pressure from flamboyant kiwi Shane van Gisbergen.

The team boss announced the 250km mini-marathon on the treacherous Adelaide streets as the 2010 V8 Supercars Champion's career best drive, and after extensive work behind the scenes over the past 12 months, believed 'Team Red' was coming hard and fast in 2015.

"The cars are quick; the team is in good shape; we've got great people, [team principal] Adrian Burgess is doing a fantastic job; we have a good set of drivers across all four cars.We are there and there's absolutely no excuses - we've got to be fighting for a championship, and we have to focus on winning Bathurst as well,"Walkinshaw told v8supercars.com.au after Courtney's thrilling back-to-back Clipsal victory.

"Honestly, I've never seen the guy drive as good as that ... it was pretty exceptional," he said.

"For him to hold off Shane, who had a brand new set of fresh tyres - two years in a row here is a great job and I think what we're most proud of is that we've been working really hard on these cars and all four cars were genuinely quick all weekend ... I can't wait for the next round and to take it to everyone else."

While pole man Courtney and teammate Garth Tander ran alternate strategies throughout the race, the end result meant Tander also made the podium and he features third on the Championship points table, with the #22 driver leads by17 points over Fabian Coulthard.

"The boys deserve it - both JC and Garth had exceptional drives every single person in the team did exactly what they were supposed to do," Walkinshaw said.

"It was just one of those days where it was pretty much perfect, so I couldn't be happier."

Courtney commented post-race on how tough it was to keep the charging Tekno driver behind as they battled for the final stint of the 78-lap race separated by just tenths of a second.

While van Gisbergen looked set to edge ahead after a dive at turn nine, he redressed contact between the cars and let Courtney continue as the leader, wanting to make the pass cleanly if he was going to make it at all.

"There was a bit of pressure," the 2010 champ said of the closing laps.

"He was really quick and had a really good car. It was great sportsmanship when we had the coming together, he readdressed it - that was great.

"It's good having good, hard racing with someone that you respect, so it was good. I felt like I earned it, that's for sure."

Courtney stopped short of saying the Holden Racing Team was now the team to beat - though Walkinshaw believes they now have all the ingredients to push for the title.

Walkinshaw gave credit to key recruits for the 2014 season, team principal Adrian Burgess and technical director Mathew Nilsson, as well as acknowledging the flawless performance of the crew in Adelaide.

"Team spirit and culture is at a level that I've never seen in this place," Walkinshaw said.

"You never know what happens in this sport - but we'll certainly give it our best shot."