Tander gets first ever Bathurst pole
Reigning V8 Supercar Champion and Holden Racing Team (HRT) driver Garth Tander has scored his first ever pole position at Mount Panorama. And it will be a Holden-Ford front row for the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 tomorrow, with Ford Performance Racing’s Mark Winterbottom second fastest in the Top 10 Shootout this afternoon (Saturday).
It will be the third year in a row that a HRT and FPR car have started from the front row.
The Top 10 Shootout was delayed as Brisbane-based Mini Challenge driver Darren Berry was cut out from his car after it crashed at the top of the Mountain.
“It was a tough shootout,” Tander admitted.
“I guess everyone was in the same situation not knowing how hard to push in the run to Forrest’s Elbow and in Forrest’s Elbow itself because of the dirt and junk (from Berry’s accident) that was on the track.
“It was a tough lap, but I knew that I had to do a strong last sector because I felt that the track would clean up as the lap went on and the run to Forrest’s Elbow would be better.
“I braked as deep as I dared at the Chase and again at Murray’s and I think it was the last sector that got us out of jail.”
The Top 10 Shootout was incident free, with two seconds separating Tander and Wow Racing’s Max Wilson, who posted the slowest time of 2min 9.194 despite a clean run of the circuit.
Supercheap Auto Racing’s Russell Ingall was quicker than Wilson, posting a time of 2min 8.780.
But Glenfords Racing’s Fabian Coulthard, who took 2.08.805 to get around Mount Panorama, could not top Ingall’s time.
HSV Dealer Team’s Paul Dumbrell could, however, top Ingall’s time shaving off a second with a time of 2min 7.802 and will start the race from fourth.
Jim Beam Racing’s Will Davison lost time when he locked his wheels up going into the Chase and completed his hot lap in 2min 8.251.
Tander then drove the fastest lap – 2min 7.296 – of the shootout despite running a bit wide going into the Chase.
Stone Brothers Racing driver James Courtney’s time of 2min 7.702 means he and co-driver David Besnard will start the race from third, while TeamVodafone’s Jamie Whincup will start from fifth after he ran wide around a couple of parts of the circuit, including at Hell Corner.
Sprint Gas Racing’s Jason Richards posted a 2min 7.987 and will start tomorrow’s race from sixth.
Winterbottom provided a nail-biting finish to the shootout, posting the fastest second sector time, but he then finished his lap slower than Tander.
“The start of the lap was pretty average,” Frosty said.
“I started the flying lap on the dirt, which isn’t ideal; I went down about a tenth and a half on that opening sector.
“I got back to a reasonable sector at Forrest’s Elbow and Garth’s last sector was pretty strong and he got me there, but when you start down there is no excuse.
“I tried too hard and made a mistake.”
Top 10 Shootout results:
