James Courtney a father!

by **--->Da[V]id<---** Fri Jan 25, 2008 9:14 am

Ford V8 Supercar driver and 'Dancing With The Stars' competitor James Courtney today became a father for the first time.

Courtney's wife Carys gave birth to a 3.39kg daughter at 1.10pm today at Pindara Private Hospital on the Gold Coast. The couple have named their first child Zara Eve.

"I was present at the birth and I'm a very excited father," said the 27-year-old JELD-WEN Falcon driver. "It was a quick delivery with no complications. I'm proud of 'mum and bub'."

"Carys and I both liked the name Zara from when we first started talking about it so that's what we decided on. We couldn't be happier."

The couple have been joined on the Gold Coast by Courtney's parents Jim and Deanna, and Cary's mother Pam.

Courtney, who finished second in the 2007 Bathurst 1000, will next month start his third year of V8 Supercar Championship racing with the Gold Coast-based Stone Brothers Racing team.

The 2008 championship starts with the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide from February 21-24. Courtney, an ex-Formula One test driver with Jaguar, won pole position for the Adelaide championship round in 2007 and finished second and third in the two races.

During 2007 Courtney also competed on the Seven Network's seventh series of its high-rating program 'Dancing With The Stars', and survived six weeks before being eliminated.