V8 SUPERCAR: Courtney wins at Surfers on comeback weekend

James Courtney and Jack Perkins won race two of V8 Supercars' Gold Coast 600 on the streets of Surfers Paradise, the former on his comeback weekend from injury.

The sister Holden Racing Team crew of Garth Tander and Warren Luff finished third behind the Nissan of Rick Kelly and David Russell to secure the Enduro Cup.

Courtney, who missed the Sandown and Bathurst enduros after a freak incident at Sydney Motorsport Park, had been running outside the top 10 when he made a secondary pitstop under a mid-race safety car.

That put him in a position to make it to the end on fuel, and the majority of frontrunners made their additional stop soon after the race went back to green on lap 59 of 102 and fell behind.

Courtney eventually took the lead when Nick Percat dived to the pits at the end of lap 97, and finished two seconds ahead of Kelly, who employed a similar strategy of pitting twice during the safety car period. He said he was still suffering the ill-effects of his injuries.

“I am in a lot of pain, it’s hurting a lot,” Courtney told v8supercars.com.au post-race. “It’s the bumping, the bouncing and everything, it's pretty violent in there so the way you sit, there is a bit going on and that makes it pretty difficult. 

“All the cartilage at the front (of the chest), the muscle has been torn off so as you are sitting it’s crunching and that is very unpleasant.”

The win brought a maiden V8 Supercars triumph for an emotional Perkins, who started the race in the car.

Tander had been fifth at the restart but staying out in clean air until lap 91 paid dividends. He rejoined ahead of Craig Lowndes, who had been in the box seat for the first half of the race after his Bathurst-winning co-driver Steven Richards beat polesitter Alexandre Premat's Volvo off the line.

A fourth top-four finish from the four endurance races was enough for Tander and Luff to extend the Enduro Cup advantage they brought into the race.

Lowndes finished fourth ahead of Shane van Gisbergen, who got past Premat's co-driver Scott McLaughlin and reigning champion Jamie Whincup during the final stint.

Championship leader Mark Winterbottom ended a difficult weekend with 11th place, despite his car having held fifth during the early stages in the hands of Steve Owen.

Percat, sharing with British sportscar ace Oliver Gavin, finished 15th, one spot behind another car started by international racer, that of Sebastien Bourdais and Lee Holdsworth.

RESULTS - 102 LAPS:

Originally on Autosport.com