Courtney on Reynolds clash: "I've got nothing against him"

Reynolds hip-and-shouldered his way into the lead on the second lap, nudging Courtney out of the way with contact on the way into Turn 4.

Being forced wide meant Courtney shuffled back to fourth, as Reynolds sprinted into the lead.

The Erebus driver didn't get too far down the road before being slapped with a five-second penalty, but still managed to finish the race ahead of Courtney, the pair in third and fourth respectively.

While it was one of the flash points of a controversial race, Courtney said he was happy to chalk it up as a racing incident, and that there were no hard feelings towards Reynolds.

"We were both racing hard. I would have done the same thing," he said.

"If you're not committed and having a go, then what are we here for? Sometimes you're on the good end, sometimes you're on the bad end. I've been on both sides.

"I've got nothing against him. He was having a crack and he got a slap on the wrist for it."

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Reynolds was equally apathetic regarding the incident, claiming that he accepted the penalty, but didn't think there was much in the contact.

He also said that track conditions played their part, with dirt making it very slippery off line.

"[The] track was pretty slippery – I think the promoter must go and shovel s**t everywhere to make the racing more exciting. It's so dirty," he said.

"Down into Turn 3 Courtney had a little moment on the exit and I tried to get a run on him. It's really, really short. We clashed and he came off a little worse than me.

"I didn't think there was much in it, but we accept five seconds and roll on."

Reynolds also praised his race engineer Alistair McVean for not telling him about the penalty until he was in pitlane ready to make his compulsory stop.

"It was probably the right time to tell me, when I was at 40 kays and couldn't do anything about it," he said.

"I had to accept it pretty quickly and move on. If he'd told me [at the time], I probably would have pitched it off the road at the next corner.

"Engineers are engineers, they're very smart technically, but they're also psychologists as well."

Courtney added that he enjoyed his brief stint as the race leader, particularly his well-executed moves on the likes of Chaz Mostert and Fabian Coulthard to charge from fourth to first within four corners.

"I was thinking 'I hope mum and the kids are watching'. It's been a while since I've had daylight in front of me," he said.

"I saw it all unfolding and maybe a bit of experience came in. On the way in I saw [Mostert] snagging the front, so I made sure I got in and up the the kerb to get as much rotation as I could. Then I just gassed it up.

"I had a lot of fun at the start. The whole race was good. When the car is good and you're racing for podiums, that's what we're all here for.

"I had a good day. It's been a while since I've got out of the car in each session and been happy."