Garth Tander experienced rare emotion upon the realisation that he had become a five-time Great Race winner.
The 45-year-old prevailed as co-driver to Shane van Gisbergen for the second time in three years in the 2022 Repco Bathurst 1000, adding to his triumphs in 2000 for Garry Rogers Motorsport plus 2009 and 2011 for the Walkinshaw Holden Racing Team.
Only Peter Brock, Jim Richards, Craig Lowndes, Larry Perkins, and Mark Skaife have more, while Steven Richards also has five.
Asked if he ever thought he would get to five, Tander said, “No.”
He added, “Yeah, I have never really been emotional after a race, but that was pretty emotional; just the realisation that five is a pretty serious number to have had success here.
“I knew that the car and Shane and the team were going to be exceptional [during the] week, and I was determined not to be the weakest link in the team this year.
“So, I worked really, really hard in the lead-up to this one and I was pretty satisfied with the way that middle stint went, and to be able to contribute in a small way.
“So five’s are pretty serious number but I won’t probably realise that until much, much later.”
Tander in fact set the very fastest lap of anyone on a weekend of changeable weather and track conditions, clocking a 2:04.1359s in Practice 2, which was reserved for co-drivers, when the track was mostly dry and recently laid sealant had a significant effect.
In the race itself, he completed 76 laps in #97 Red Bull Ampol ZB Commodore, essentially a stint longer than the 54-lap minimum.
Tander said post-race on television that his latest win felt more special because he felt like he contributed more than he did in 2020 to Triple Eight Race Engineering.
“Just being up to speed early, and [in] that middle stint, just being able to open up a gap and give the team flexibility with strategy and things like that; not being boxed into a corner,” he explained.
“That was really my goal when we got ourselves back to the lead after the after the pit stop penalty [five-second hold for an earlier unsafe release]; just to open up maximum flexibility and sort of not just give the car back in the lead [but] give the car back in the lead with plenty of options for the team.
“So, that was pretty satisfying.”
All three Triple Eight cars finished in the top 10, with Broc Feeney/Jamie Whincup fifth in the #88 Red Bull Ampol Racing entry and Craig Lowndes/Declan Fraser eighth in the #888 Supercheap Auto Racing wildcard.
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