Tander wins first V8SC race in Tasmania

Toll HSV driver Garth Tander took a huge stride towards securing a maiden V8 Supercar Championship Series title with a commanding win in the first race of the Falken Tasmania Challenge in Launceston.

The lanky West Australian made the field look as though they were standing still on the same track he won all three races at this time last year. Already this year he has had clean sweeps at Queensland Raceway and Barbagallo in Perth.

He is clearly now the Championship favourite with a 31-point lead over Craig Lowndes, depending on what happens in tomorrow’s two races. He streeted Team Vodafone’s Jamie Whincup and Ford Performance Racing’s Mark Winterbottom today.

But he won’t have a word of Championships, although he did say he would like a comfortable buffer going into the Dunlop Grand Finale at Phillip Island in a fortnight.

“There are still two races to go here and five in the Championship … 31 points is not enough,” Tander said.

“You certainly have to weigh up all of the scenarios as they are presented to you. The best scenario for us is to do well tomorrow and create a margin to make all the races at Phillip Island a little less critical.”

Tander’s form in Tasmania is near perfect. He won all three races here last year in a canter but doesn’t know what it is about the short Symmons Plains layout, or in fact those at Queensland Raceway and Barbagallo.

“Here, QR and Perth seem to suit my style but I’ve got no idea why,” he said.

“We have got to the point in the last three seasons where we have found the setup for one reason or another and stuck with it.”

While Whincup battled into second today he could not stop himself harping back to the Desert 400 in Bahrain where he failed to get any points and lost the Championship lead.

“There’s one round to go but I’ve made things pretty hard for myself after Bahrain. We will give it our best shot and keep fighting to the end.”

Qualifying was a teller for some of the topline teams.

The first session of qualifying proved a giant killer, particularly for the Stone Brothers Racing team. James Courtney came in 26th and Russell Ingall 22nd as the team clearly struggled with setup for qualifying.

At one point it appeared they would be joined by Holden Racing Team’s Todd Kelly as he languished in 26th position right until the closing laps when he got a clear run, nailed a time and rushed into third for the session.

He fared no better than 17th in the second qualifying session while Team Vodafone’s Craig Lowndes saved his best until last to scrape into the top ten.