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The Toll Holden Racing Team’s Garth Tander has taken a substantial 58 point chunk out of rival Mark Winterbottom’s points lead in the battle for the 2008 V8 Supercar Championship.
Tander finished third in today’s first 40 lap at Winton Motor Raceway, near Benalla in northeast Victoria, while Winterbottom was 21st – a deflating tyre first dropping him through the field in the early laps, while repairs for body damage required a longer pit stop.
But it wasn’t all smooth sailing for Tander either, his Toll HRT Commodore hit at the start in the race to the first corner, hurting the steering rack. His rear anti-roll bar also jammed on fully hard early, hurting the car’s tyres over the races final laps.
Tander pressed Will Davison for a large portion of the race and looked to be a chance for second, but tyre wear eventually took its toll, the final margin 0.7s.
Tander’s team-mate Mark Skaife finished 13th, the five-time champion embroiled in a tight battle with former team-mate Craig Lowndes until tyre degradation also hurt his race – Skaife then surviving a heavy tap from Shane Van Gisbergen to lead home the SBR Falcon.
Defending round winner Jamie Whincup won the race from Davison and Tander, Holdens with six of the top 10 positions.
The eighth round of the 2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series concludes tomorrow with two final 40 lap races.
Garth Tander, #1 Toll Holden Racing Team Commodore VE:
“Gaining 58 points on Winterbottom is great. If we go well in the next two races we might be able to fully close the gap. Coming third today after all the dramas we had at the first turn was good. I got clobbered and damaged the steering race, so we were in trouble from the word go. Then the rear anti-roll bar jammed almost full hard and the car was hard on the tyres and difficult to drive. It’s hard to gauge how are car really was, but given our speed I’m quite happy. [People say] we’ve been going bad, but we’re still getting thirds and fourths. If we [then] can get our act together we’ll do alright! “
Mark Skaife, #2 Toll Holden Racing Team Commodore VE:
“After not qualifying where we should have, how we turned our Toll HRT Commodore as a race car really hurt the tyres – and it’s a very, very long race when it’s like that. We really should have been good enough for a mid-top 10 car in qualifying if you added our best sectors together. I had a great battle with Lowndesy for a long time, he was pretty fair about it, then Van Gisbergen came from a long way back and just smashed into the rear of me and almost knocked me off. After that he was reasonably fair. We’ll do some homework tonight and be better tomorrow.”
2008 V8supercar Series, Rd 8 – Winton (Race One)
1. Jamie Whincup, Team Vodafone Ford Falcon BF
2. Will Davison, Jim Beam Racing Ford Falcon BF
3. Garth Tander, Toll Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore VE
4. Jason Richards, Sprint Gas Racing Holden Commodore VE
5. Steven Richards, Castrol Edge Ford Falcon BF
6. Lee Holdsworth, Valvoline/Cummins Holden Commodore VE
7. Todd Kelly, Jack Daniel’s Racing Holden Commodore VE
8. Russell Ingall, Supercheap Auto Racing Holden Commodore VE
9. Michael Caruso, Valvoline/Cummins Holden Commodore VE
10. James Courtney, Jeld-Wen Racing Holden Commodore VE
13. Mark Skaife, Toll Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore VE
