Toll Holden Racing Team’s Will Davison and Garth Tander scored an incredible last lap victory to win first V8 Supercar endurance race of the season at Phillip Island.
The Holden pair had spent much of the three hour race in second place chasing the Team Vodafone Ford Falcon of long time leaders Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup. But when one of Lowndes’ tyres began to deflate in the final few laps, he was unable to defend his lead as Tander stormed past midway round the final lap.
Davison admitted he had almost given up hope and settled for second when Tander suddenly found his way past to claim as second successive Phillip Island victory for Holden.
“We’d had a little chat and said ‘oh well, second’s been a great day and we’ll use this as motivation for Bathurst,” he said. “(But) in this sport you learn never to give up, that’s for sure.
“I had all the faith in the world to just sit there and watch GT do what he does best. I nearly thought second was it, but those last three laps were pretty exciting and he did an unbelievable job.
“It’s a very good feeling to win this one; it feels very special.”
Earlier in the race, on lap 87, Tander took the lead when Lowndes was blocked in traffic, but the Team Vodafone man was back ahead a few laps later and seemed destined for victory until the final tour.
“They said to me on the radio at the start of the last lap ‘just go as hard as you can and see what happens’,” said Tander.
“I thought Lowndesie was coming back to us a little bit whilst I was in that ‘saving the fuel’ period. I didn’t know what was going on, but I thought ‘oh he’s sliding around a bit and couldn’t really see anything else so I wondered whether he was a bit low on fuel as well.
“You go 500ks absolutely flat out and I think there was pretty much less than two seconds covering (the) two cars all race. It’s a fantastic result and I’m sure it looked good on TV.”
Ford Performance Racing duo Mark Winterbottom and Steve Richards completed the podium ahead of the Jim Beam Racing Falcon of Steve Johnson and James Courtney.
Rick and Todd Kelly were the second best place Holden in the Jack Daniel’s Racing car, while Warren Luff and Jonathon Webb sprung a surprise in sixth place in the second Jim Beam Racing Ford, the highest of the non championship regulars.
British stars Andy Priaulx, who shared the Bundaberg Red Racing Team Holden with David Reynolds, and James Thompson, in the second Team Vodafone Falcon with Allan Simonsen, finished 16th and 21st respectively.
V8 Supercar Championship results – Round 9, Phillip Island
1 W Davison / G Tander, Toll Holden Racing Team, Holden Commodore VE, 113 laps
2 Lowndes / Whincup, Team Vodafone, Ford Falcon FG, 113 laps
3 S Richards / Winterbottom, Ford Performance Racing, Ford Falcon FG, 113 laps
4 Courtney / Johnson, Jim Beam Racing, Ford Falcon FG, 113 laps
5 R Kelly / T Kelly, Jack Daniel’s Racing, Holden Commodore VE, 113 laps
6 Luff / Webb, Jim Beam Racing, Ford Falcon FG, 113 laps
7 Ingall / Slade, Supercheap Auto Racing, Holden Commodore VE, 113 laps
8 Baird / Dumbrell, Toll Holden Racing Team, Holden Commodore VE, 113 laps
9 Canto / Youlden, Ford Performance Racing, Ford Falcon FG, 113 laps
10 A Davison / Van Gisbergen, SP Tools Racing, Ford Falcon FG, 113 laps
11 Murphy / Skaife, Sprint Gas Racing, Holden Commodore VE, 113 laps
12 Owen / Price, Team Autobarn, Holden Commodore VE, 112 laps
13 Besnard / Ritter, Garry Rogers Motorsport, Holden Commodore VE, 112 laps
14 Perkins / Wood, Dodo Racing Team, Holden Commodore VE, 112 laps
15 D’Alberto / A Thompson, The Bottle-O Racing Team, Holden Commodore VE, 112 laps
16 Priaulx / Reynolds, Bundaberg Red Racing Team, Holden Commodore VE, 112 laps
17 Gaunt / McIntyre, Irwin Racing, Ford Falcon FG, 112 laps
18 Collins / Pretty, Jack Daniel’s Racing, Holden Commodore VE, 111 laps
19 L Tander / Wall, Wilson Security Racing, Ford Falcon BF, 111 laps
20 Fisher / Sieders, Jesus Racing, Ford Falcon BF, 111 laps
21 Simonsen / J Thompson, Team Vodafone, Ford Falcon FG, 111 laps
22 McNally / Ricciardello, Hi-Tec Oils Racing, Holden Commodore VE, 101 laps
23 Assaillit / Lowe, Fujitsu Racing, Ford Falcon BF, 93 laps
24 Douglas / Walter, Greg Murphy Racing, Holden Commodore VE, 92 laps
Not classified
Bright / Reindler, Fujitsu Racing, Ford Falcon FG, 92 laps
A Jones / B Jones, WOW Racing, Holden Commodore VE, 80 laps
O Kelly / Morris, Supercheap Auto Racing, Holden Commodore VE, 62 laps
Bargwanna / Noske, Sprint Gas Racing, Holden Commodore VE, 46 laps
Caruso / Holdsworth, Garry Rogers Motorsport, Holden Commodore VE, 31 laps
McConville / J Richards, Team BOC, Holden Commodore VE, 20 laps
Coulthard / Patrizi, Wilson Security Racing, Ford Falcon FG, 4 laps
Fiore / Bayliss, Triple F Racing, Holden Commodore VE, DNS
Championship Standings (after 9 rounds)
1 Jamie Whincup – 1044pts
2 Will Davison – 948
3 Steven Johnson – 753
4 Garth Rander – 723
5 Lee Holdsworth – 723
6 Craig Lowndes – 675
7 Rick Kelly – 627
8 Fabian Coulthard – 606
9 Shane Van Gisbergen – 600
10 Mark Winterbottom – 573
Next race: Round 10, Bathurst 1000, 11 October
Watch full coverage of the V8 Supercar enduro from Phillip Island on Motors TV (Sky Channel 413, Virgin Media 545) on Sunday 20 September at 5pm (BST).
Andy Wilkinson
International
