Garth Tander

Garth Tander is another of the V8 Supercars standouts and no one will soon forget his epic battle with Jamie Whincup for the 2007 championship, but since he hasn’t been able to keep up with his rival. Without question the fault for this downturn in performance lies within the HRT team.

His rise through the motor racing ranks is similar to that of Whincup. After winning the 1997 Australian Formula Ford title, the Perth native had to wait until the mid-way point of the 1998 season before finding a ride as the replacement for Steven Richards at Garry Rogers Racing. 2000 was his breakout year, when he finished runner-up in the championship (behind Mark Skaife but ahead of Craig Lowndes) and won at Bathurst.

The following three years were somewhat disappointing in terms of results but that turned around when he signed with HSV, which he viewed as a second HRT team. In 2006 and 2007, the HSV squad’s results were better than the primary team and he went on to win the 2007 crown, which wasn’t decided until the final race of the season at Philippe Island, which was aired live on Motors TV…

Garth Tander joined HRT in 2008 as the official successor to Mark Skaife. He has won his share of races but hasn’t had quite enough to contend for a second V8 title. Between mechanical problems, a fair amount of bad luck and the ascension of Team Vodafone it is easy to understand why Tander is currently more an outsider than a championship favourite.

His skills haven’t diminished. He is still very quick, very good when it comes to tyre management and re-starts. He is among the best when it comes to communication and analysing situations…a truly intelligent driver. Tander won three races in 2010, finishing fifth in the points table. His biggest challenge in 2011 will be to cohabit with new team mate and defending series champion James Courtney. How will this dup get on, will there be an inner-team rivalry, even bad blood? We can’t wait to see how it all unfolds.