Photo: As warned, Garth Tander bounced back from Darwin and made two visits to the podium in Townsville
Garth Tander’s affinity with the podium in North Queensland continued with Townsville’s second running of the Sucrogen 400 where he secured a second and third placing in the twin 200km races and now prepares for Toll Holden Racing Team’s endurance campaigns.
Tander was again in good touch on the Townsville circuit, a venue the V8 Supercars have only visited once before, and where Tander and his Toll HRT teammate Will Davison have both walked away with solid top three placings at.
The Toll HRT drivers arrived in Townsville armed with cars that they had only raced previously at Darwin and tested in at Winton prior, so with the new machinery and a stack of confidence the expectation was again high.
Tander entered the eighth round at Townsville coming off a 10th and 19th from Darwin’s SKYCITY Triple Crown and was again motivated to do well with the prospect of bagging valuable points and climbing up the championship ladder.
Friday’s practice enabled the Toll HRT team to tinker with their new cars and changes immediately put Tander and Davison amongst the pacesetters. Tander put his #2 Commodore on the second row for the first race, starting third while Davison would start in 14th.
Tander’s quest for victory began brilliantly as he forged his way to the lead after flying off the line and charging past front row pair of Jamie Whincup and Mark Winterbottom, but he would eventually post another strong second, finishing just behind Whincup.
For Davison, his #22 Toll HRT Commodore was solid on timesheets but finished 18th, but Sunday dawned and Davison quickly bounced back into the Top 10, to qualify seventh, while Tander would again come out of three.
With the possibility of posting strong the Toll HRT drivers had a lot to aim for and would both finish in the Top 10. Tander salvaged an amazing third after crashing into a tyre barrier, while his teammate Davison was solid in sixth. The pair would be the only Holden Commodore drivers to finish in the top six at the end of the 72 lap, 200km race.
Their positive efforts see Tander in fifth in the tough battle for supremacy in the 2010 V8 Supercars Championship, while Davison sits in 16th.
Whincup won Saturday’s race while Ford’s Mark Winterbottom won on Sunday.
Ford driver James Courtney continues to lead the championship from Whincup, with Winterbottom now having moved to third.
The Toll HRT’s attention now turns to the season’s most important events, the annual endurance races – the traditional L'H 500 at Phillip Island and Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 now joined by the Armor All Gold Coast 600.
HRT enters the first two enduros as defending champions while all three races pose a real opportunity for season defining moments.
Craig Baird, Cameron McConville and Australian Indycar star Ryan Briscoe join the driver line-up with Tander and Davison, with driver pairings for the events to be confirmed over coming weeks.
Before then, the V8 Supercar Series takes an eight week sabatical, a great chance for the Toll HRT regroup before successfully defending its enduro title.