Courtesy V8 Supercars Australia

Toll HSV Dealer Team driver Garth Tander has claimed his first hometown V8 Supercar round victory, taking out the BigPond 400 at Barbagallo Raceway in Western Australia.


Tander, who turns 30 next week, was in crushing form on the 2.4-kilometre circuit, sweeping all three race victories from pole position. He was joined on the podium by teammate Rick Kelly and Mark Skaife from the Holden Racing Team.


Tander’s maiden victory was completed at the circuit where he cut his teeth in Formula Ford. The result elevated him to second in the series standings, 13 points shy of Kelly, the defending champion.


“It’s right up there with winning Bathurst, there’s no doubt about that,” said an ecstatic Tander, who climbed on to the roof of his VE Commodore to acknowledge the support of his hometown crowd.


“I’ve been trying hard for so many years, so to do it the way we did, by taking pole and all three races, was just awesome.”


Skaife’s podium result – which included a close second in the final race – was a welcome return to racing after the past week, when he had to pay attention to off-track politics instead of on-track performance.


His teammate Todd Kelly dropped the series lead after a tough weekend – his brake hose came loose in race one and sent him into the sandtrap while running fourth.


He recovered strongly, charging from 30th to 10th in race two and improved further in the final 50-lapper to claim third place in the championship.


Though Holden’s VE Commodore took a clean sweep of the podium, Ford fans will be buoyed by the result of Dick Johnson’s Jim Beam Racing.


That team’s drivers – Steven Johnson and Will Davison – were strong all weekend, narrowly missing the podium to come fourth and fifth respectively.

It was the team’s best result since the duo finished fourth in last year’s Sandown 500 endurance race.

Glenfords Racing’s John Bowe managed to score his team’s first points for the season in the final race on a weekend where he started his 213th series round, breaking the late Peter Brock’s record for most starts.


The V8 Supercar Championship Series now moves to New Zealand for round three at the fast and flowing Pukekohe Raceway Park on April 20-22.