Garth Tander ends HRT’s long winless drought

Garth Tander recorded the Holden Racing Team’s first V8 Supercar victory for 2013 in the second leg of the Sucrogen Townsville 400 today. The Western Australian led home team-mate James Courtney in the factory team’s first victory since the 2011 Bathurst 1000.

It was superior strategy that granted HRT their first victory in 58 races, with both entries capitalising on an early safety car to maximise the time spent on the faster soft compound tyre. Tander slowed significantly on the final lap to allow a formation finish with James Courtney, crossing the line 3 tenths of a second ahead of the 2010 champion having maintained a 3 second buffer for the second half of the race.

Shane van Gisbergen rounded out the podium in his Tekno Autosport prepared VIP Petfoods Commodore, a spectacular result considering the Kiwi qualified back in 21st place and made an overall gain of 18 positions throughout the 70 lap event. Furthermore, the 24 year-old was spun at the first corner on the opening lap, which makes his recovery all the more impressive. Pole-sitter Mark Winterbottom could not compete with the strategy of the HRT duo, as the FPR pilot saw the chequered flag a further 21 seconds behind race-winner Garth Tander.

Russell Ingall rounded out the top 5 after a stellar drive saw him improve 21 positions in the 200 kilometre event having started in 24th on the grid. It was a vintage display from “The Enforcer”, who will relinquish his Walkinshaw Racing seat at the end of this season.

The field was notably shaken up as a result of the early safety car period triggered by the stricken Irwin Tools AMG Mercedes of Lee Holdsworth. Many engineers elected to sacrifice track position for their drivers in favour of an earlier switch the softer rubber, which paid dividends as their pilots easily picked their way through the hard tyre runners, even if it required an extra pit stop. The drivers who stayed on the harder compound rubber were disadvantaged, as not only were they on the slower set of rubber, but their fuel stops were longer as a result of pitting further from the finish for their compulsory tyre stops.

Tony D’Alberto was one of the pilots to take advantage of the two-pit stop strategy, steering his Team HIFLEX entry to an impressive 6th place at the finish. Craig Lowndes saw the chequered flag in 7th position having qualified in 5th, while Tim Slade led the Erebus Motorsport charge after finishing less than two seconds behind Lowndes’ Red Bull Racing Australia VF Commodore. Scott McLaughlin was disadvantaged by the harder compound rubber on his GRM entry for the first 35 laps, however the 20 year-old managed to bag 9th place. Yesterday’s winner, Will Davison, rounded out the top-10 in the second Pepsi Max Crew FPR Falcon.

Earlier, Mark Winterbottom notched up another pole position for the factory Ford outfit, edging out Scott McLaughlin by 15 hundredths of a second around the Reid Park circuit. The session was interrupted by a red flag resulting from a spring being dislodged from the Supercheap Auto Commodore of Russsell Ingall, which triggered an all-out sprint for pole position in the final three minutes.

David Reynolds suffered a mechanical problem in the early laps after starting from third on the grid. The Bottle-O Racing pilot was forced to bring his FG Falcon into the garage, and eventually finished 26th. Lee Holdsworth also suffered mechanical difficulties in his Erebus Motorsport prepared AMG Mercedes, which triggered the Victorian to retire from his second consecutive race.

Jason Bright was dealt a drive through penalty as a result of contact with the Norton Racing Nissan of Michael Caruso, which left the championship contending Brad Jones Racing pilot out of contention and in 16th place at the finish. BJR’s David Wall was also dealt a mechanical black flag following damage sustained from contact with the Jack Daniels Nissan of Todd Kelly at turn 8.

Reigning champion Jamie Whincup endured another difficult outing at the Townsville circuit, qualifying in 15th place and taking the chequered flag in 11th overall. Red Bull Racing Australia struggled to dial in the #1 VF Commodore throughout the weekend, however Whincup was able to salvage a healthy bag of points for the Queensland based team.

Jamie Whincup’s difficulties have significantly cut his championship lead to Red Bull Racing Australia stable mate Craig Lowndes, with the deficit narrowed to just 111 points. Will Davison remains in third position in the standings having struggled to capitalize on Triple Eight’s difficulties throughout the weekend. Mark Winterbottom is the big mover of the weekend, jumping to fourth overall and sitting only 254 points behind Whincup after a difficult start to his 2013 campaign.

The next round of the season is the Coates Hire Ipswich 360 on the 26th, 27th and 28th of July at Queensland Raceway, a couple of hundred kilometres south of Townsville.