MOTORSPORT: First TCR win for Tander and Audi

Garth Tander nearly threw away his first victory in the carsales TCR Australia Series at Tailem Bend while leading with what he described as a “rookie error”.

But the touring car veteran got back on track after a near-spin, punched forward from fourth place, and added both his and Audi’s names to the growing honour roll of TCR winners in Australia.

Championship leader Will Brown starred as he drove his Hyundai i30 N from 16th on the grid, after a disastrous practice and qualifying effort, to second at the finishing flag of Race One at The Bend Motorsport Park.

Aaron Cameron also did well to move from fifth to third at the end after dropping back to eighth in a Volkswagen Golf.

Rookie Jordan Cox could have been on the podium and led for much of the race in a Honda but was eventually slugged with a 10sec penalty after a touch-up on the first lap that spun pole-sitter James Moffat’s Renault Megane out of the lead.

There was torrid action throughout the race, with plenty of casualties including Jason Bright who parked with a puncture in his Volkswagen and Andre Heimgartner who parked his Subaru WRX with a mechanical problem.

There were five different leaders - Moffat, Cox, Tander and Honda Civic drivers Tony D’Alberto and John Martin - with four lead changes just on the first lap.

The grid had been slightly shuffled by a wet-and-dry qualifying session, where Moffat gave Renault its first TCR pole position after gambling on a combination of front slicks and wet-weather rear tyres, and that triggered plenty of early action.

D’Alberto was the early leader but spun, Cox touched Moffat to assume top spot, then Tander game through before a half-spin that forced him to fight back past Martin and Cox.

“I’m just a front-wheel drive rookie. It was a rookie error,” Tander said after dropping his Audi onto the grass at a high-speed flip-flop at the back of the track.

But the mistake allowed him to shadow the leading Hondas and improve his technique.

“It caught me by surprise. The back snapped out. But I won’t make that mistake again.

“I didn’t know what was happening until the Hondas got in front. Then I watched what they did, changed my technique, and it worked,” Tander said.

Brown again proved that he and his Hyundai are the benchmark in TCR racing, although even he was mystified by a lack of speed during the wet sessions.

“If it was wet, I probably would have finished last. I just don’t know what went wrong there,” he said.

But second placing allowed him to stretch his points lead over Dylan O’Keefe, who was never a contender in his Alfa Romeo Giulietta, with two more races to come on Sunday in South Australia.

“It was a pretty exciting race. I’m pretty happy with second. Now I have to hope it stays dry tomorrow.”

Today (Sunday) 18 cars will front the carsales TCR Series starter with Subaru driver Andre Heimgartner sidelined with mechanical issues. Race times are below and along with the livestream you can always watch the races via the SBS FTA coverage.

Sunday, July 14:
Race 2: 12:45-13.15 (SA time, add 30mins for East Coast)