MOTORSPORT: Tander axed in Walkinshaw reshuffle

Winner of the Sandown 500 last Sunday, without a drive for 2017 on Thursday. That’s the rollercoaster week Supercars star Garth Tander has endured.

The end of Tander’s nine-year run with what is currently called the Holden Racing Team was revealed this morning, when Walkinshaw Racing announced Scott Pye would be joining the team on a multi-year deal alongside existing driver James Courtney, who has also renewed on a new three-year deal.

They will drive for the team in its new guise as a privateer operation, following Holden’s decision to allocate its funding and the HRT name to Triple Eight Race Engineering from 2017.

Tander, the 39-year-old three-times Bathurst 1000 winner and 2007 Supercars champion says he is determined to stay in the championship full-time for a few years yet.

“All the way through my career I have prided myself on taking on competition head-on and Supercars is still the pinnacle of competition in Australian motorsport and there is no reason not challenge myself going forward over the next period of my life,” he said.

And while he won’t give any indication about where he is likely to end up, a return to the team where it all started for him in touring cars, Garry Rogers Motorsport, is the direction being most commonly mooted along pitlane.

Tander insists he has more than one option going forward. There is also the prospect of racing outside Supercars, as he has forged strong links in the growing GT category in the last couple of years.

“Hopefully in the coming weeks we can make my plans for next year clearer,” he said.

“The plan is to continue racing clearly; motorsport has been my life, driving has been my life and I don’t see that changing.

Tander was philosophical about his departure from WR, admitting it was not unexpected.

He was officially informed his deal would not be renewed at midday on Thursday by team owner Ryan Walkinshaw.

“Literally the first time I was back at the team after winning the Sandown 500 on Sunday I was being told by Ryan that my services were not required in 2017 and that’s disappointing and I was a little bit sad about that,” Tander said.

“But the sun came up this morning and life goes on,” he said.

“They feel they have to make decisions based on the back of the Holden announcement and I would expect there will be more changes made between now and the start of next year.

“I have treasured every day as a Holden factory driver and I will until the end of this season; there have been a lot of good times and there have been a lot of bad times.

“I will look back on this phase of my life a s a fruitful. There are a couple of Bathurst in there and a lot of race wins and a lot achieved behind the scenes.”

Pye’s move to WR comes after two years racing at DJR Team Penske. His place there is being taken by Scott McLaughlin, who is moving on from GRM, thus creating the potential seat for Tander alongside James Moffat.

But there are complications because Volvo announced it would be ending its factory backing of GRM in May and demanded its cars back. The team is initiating legal action against Volvo in an attempt to keep the S60s for the 2017 season.

GRM’s latest protégé James ‘Bieber’ Golding – who debuted in the main game with a massive crash at Sandown last Sunday – has also been mooted consistently as a potential main game driver for this team

Other vacant seats in the championship potentially include:

Prodrive Racing Australia: The untimely death of Super Black Racing owner Tony Lentino has brought the future of this program into question. PRA, the former Ford factory team, could reclaim the entry from its customer and run a fourth car, most likely for talented development series driver Jack Le Brocq, who has solid commercial support.

Brad Jones Racing: Veteran Jason Bright is thought unlikely to continue in the BOC Commodore, with emerging talent Nick Percat (currently driving for minnow Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport) expected to take this seat. Customer Tim Blanchard is expected to continue in the Team Cooldrive entry, but if that falls through then there is a second seat potentially available here.

Nissan Motorsport: More drivers potentially available than seats. Michael Caruso is the only driver confirmed at the factory team, but Swiss driver Simona de Silvestro is expected to join on a three-year deal. It would be very unlikely that Rick Kelly doesn’t continue, leaving Dale Wood, carsales.com.au driver (and co-team owner) Todd Kelly, youngster Matthew Campbell and Le Brocq all being linked with this operation. Potentially messy.

Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport: Battler team will most likely have two new drivers in 2017 and they will almost certainly have to bring cash.

Erebus Motorsport: A new teammate for David Reynolds in Betty Klimenko’s team looks likely. Current Super Black Racing driver Chris Pither and his substantial Ice Break backing have been linked to the seat. There will be others, such as Le Brocq and his DVS rival Garry Jacobson, potentially on the list.