Bathurst Hour 2 Update: Tander leads Skaife

Garth Tander in the #2 Holden Commodore leads former team mate Mark Skaife after two hours in the Bathurst 1000km race.

The race started damp but dried out in less than five laps and all cars switched to slicks. Craig Lowndes/Jamie Whincup are working their way up the field after an early penalty.

At the start, Steven Richards in the #6 FPR Ford Falcon took the lead, as Davison fell to third in the #2 HRT Commodore – but Davison swiftly repassed Lowndes and Richards to resume the lead before the safety car was deployed to rescue Jason Bright in the Fujitsu Racing car.

On lap 5, Kelly Racing’s Todd Kelly was the first to switch to slicks, and within a lap the rest of the field followed.

During this pit cycle though, Lowdnes was released into the path of Steven Richards, and the stewards deemed this an unsafe release and awarded Lowndes with a drive through penalty.

A few laps later, the FPR Falcon was diagnosed with an alternator problem – which saw them change the battery in their next stop. So far this problem hasn’t hampered their performance too much and they’re still third at the two hour mark.

Jack Perkins and Michael Caruso both created cause for panic with two seperate spins in blind parts of the track – involving careful manouvering as the pack drove past to keep going.

Mark Skaife, now in the Sprint Gas Racing car, taking over from the Kiwi Greg Murphy is now in second place and chasing down race leader Garth Tander, as the clouds are threatening the circuit.

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