Garth Tander is confident that he will be a Supercars title contender next season if his plans to remain in the category full-time come to fruition.
Tander signed off from a 12-year stint at Walkinshaw Racing with a pole and a second place finish today at Sydney Olympic Park.
Two podiums across the weekend capped a resurgent second half of the year for the driver who Walkinshaw announced in September will be replaced by Scott Pye in 2017.
Tander is yet to announce his plans for next season and says he has not signed a firm deal.
It is widely expected that he will step into the seat vacated by Scott McLaughlin at Garry Rogers Motorsport, returning to the team that he left for Walkinshaw at the end of 2004.
GRM however is not expected to lock in its plans until after December 13, when it will hold mediation talks with Volvo aimed at settling the dispute over the continued use of its S60s.
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Tander remained coy on his plans after today’s race but says that he expects to end up in a competitive full-time drive.
“I expect that if we can put the deal together that I’m working on then we’ll be in a very strong car and capable of winning races and having another crack at the championship,” he said.
Next season will mark 10 years since Tander won the championship with Walkinshaw’s HSV Dealer Team.
He moved over to the HRT garage the following year, adding the 2009 and 2011 Bathurst 1000 victories to his first Great Race triumph with GRM in 2000.
Although finishing in the championship’s top 10 in every one of his 12 seasons at Walkinshaw, wins have proven few and far between in recent years.
Once a hallmark of his skill set, qualifying has been largely a struggle for Tander since the Car of the Future was introduced in 2013, with today marking his first pole in four years.
Tander credits his recent form resurgence on the mid-year decision to change chassis following complaints that his previous car had issues stemming from a crash at Bathurst in 2014.
“There’s no doubt we went through a bit of a lull qualifying wise,” said Tander, whose public comments about the previous chassis in August caused friction within the squad.
“Adrian (Burgess, Walkinshaw Racing managing director) won’t agree with me but certainly when you can put the qualifying average with the old car alongside the qualifying average with the new car from Eastern Creek onwards, they’re two very different numbers.
“Certainly the last three or four events have been very good for me personally to be able to continue to prove to myself that I’m capable of doing the job.
“Getting pole here today is going to help me sleep a little bit when I’m thinking about qualifying for next year, so I’m not too concerned.
“You always have a bit of belief but it’s nice to have the results to prove it. It’s only one pole but certainly I’ll take it.”
Describing today’s second place as “a nice way to put a full stop on the HRT period of my life”, Tander expressed surprise that winner Shane van Gisbergen was not penalised for pitlane contact.
Van Gisbergen clattered into Tander as he rejoined the fast lane but, while it was investigated, the Red Bull car was deemed to have been far enough ahead when the contact was made that no penalty was issued.
Tander had shown the way for the opening 19 laps before being overtaken by Van Gisbergen, who went on to lead the #2 Commodore to the chequered flag by one second.
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