After producing the quickest lap in the Top 10 Shootout earlier today, Tander started from pole and looked to be well in command of the race, pulling away from rival James Courtney early on.

But two laps into the race Tander’s gearbox began ‘over selecting’ gears on the downshift – jumping down one too many gears – in the critical braking areas and making the car hard to control under brakes.

Tander struggled with the issue while still maintaining the lead, but eventually it proved too much – just a few laps from home in the 13 lap race around the Albert Park street circuit, Tander ran wide on turn three in the #2 Toll HRT Commodore and allowed Courtney into the lead – which he held to the finish.

Team-mate Will Davison finished in the top 10 after starting the race 15th, the reigning Barry Sheene Medalist giving himself a better starting position for tomorrow’s race.

Tander has the opportunity to reverse today’s result in tomorrow evening’s race – Race 2 – which again starts at 6.15pm – Tander starting alongside Courtney on the front row.

Garth Tander, #2 Toll Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore VE:

“We had a great car at the start of the race and I was able to pull a gap on James [Courtney], but midway through the race I began to have a gearbox issue – [the gearbox] would ‘over select’ and go down one too many gears in most of the critical braking areas. [Because of that] I had an off at turn one and then I ran wide at turn three where James got through. It’s disappointing not to win the race, but the speed of my Toll HRT Commodore was very good. We’ll fix our mechanical issue and have another crack tomorrow.”

Will Davison, #22 Toll Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore VE:

“Starting 15th, it was important for us to get into the top 10 in today’s race to give us a better opportunity tomorrow and Sunday. I had a clean race, it was good fun. I had a good start and pulled off a couple of moves in the first few laps – there was certainly plenty of action going on around me. It was quite enjoyable race as we had a few good fights. We’ve still not quite got the outright pace, but we’ve made a step in the right direction and we’ll use the information from today to creep further up the front tomorrow.”

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