Holden Racing Team at the double

The Holden Racing Team banished the demons of 2008 by claiming victory in the Bathurst 1000 last weekend, making it a double endurance race winning year for the team.

In the 2008 installment of the race Garth Tander, then partnered by Mark Skaife, had qualified on pole position, but clutch problems on the line immediately ended any hopes of a good finish, let alone victory.

This year saw Tander paired with Will Davison, and the former qualified the Holden Commodore on pole position in the rain affected Top 10 Shootout.

Davison started the race this, and after two stints at the wheel each, the pair claimed victory in what can only be described as a fantastic race.

The weather forecast prior to the event predicted changeable weather for the meeting, and that certainly came true, with rain causing teams problems all through the weekend.

After Tander had put the car at the front in qualifying, Davison didn’t make the best of starts. The #888 car of Craig Lowndes and the Force Performance Racing Falcon of Steven Richards both easing past him by the first corner.

However, Davison began to make amends as he found ways past the two Falcons ahead of him, and he reclaimed the race lead, which he held for his 30-lap stint at the wheel before handing over to Tander.

Tander’s stint was largely plain sailing, but as he handed over to Davison again the predicted race day rain soon fell.

Davison elected to stay on dry tyres when others changed to wets, and he managed to keep pace around the long winding Bathurst circuit.

As Davison completed his final stint and handed over to Tander to close the race out, he left his team mate behind the #888 car, but Tander set about chasing the Falcon down and passed on lap 125.

Tander kept stretching out a small, but comfortable, lead at in the closing stages, but each time he did so a safety car intervention wiped out the advantage.

He managed each safety car restart well, and eventually crossed the line to claim his second victory in the Bathurst 1000, which in-turn is Davison’s first.

The race win also broke the Ford, TeamVodafone, Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup stranglehold on the race which has been evident for the past three years.

After the race Tander described it as “A fantastic race for us”, and went on to give credit to the Toll Holden Racing Team for providing a well setup car for the weekend.

Tander took time to mention the late Peter Brock, and a special anniversary that they were happy to celebrate along with the race win, “It’s a very special day as its 40 years since Peter Brock and the factory Holden Dealer Team made their debuts at Bathurst and we’re the first Holden drivers to put our hands on the Peter Brock Trophy – it seems quite fitting”.

Fresh from his display of raw emotion at Phillip Island,Will Davison again showed how much racing, and indeed winning, means to him.

“I was peaking when I got out of the car as we wanted to win this race so badly for everyone on the team and Holden. Somehow everything’s turned out just perfect. This is up there with anything, you don’t forget about it tomorrow … it feels incredible”, said Davison.

Perhaps Davison’s best choice of wording was in relation to the reality of winning the world famous Bathurst race, “It hasn’t sunk in as yet”, he said.

In taking victory at Mount Panorama, Tander and Davison took a clean sweep of the 2009 endurance races, having benefited from TeamVodafone’s last lap tyre issues at the Phillip Island 500 last month.

With four race meetings of the season to go, the V8 Supercar championship race is wide open. TeamVodafone’s Jamie Whincup leads the way with 2476-points, and he is closely followed by Will Davison on 2383-points.

Tander is not out of the battle, and after seeing Whincup and Lowndes finish fifth at Bathurst, has found himself back into the championship race. He currently sits on 2038-points.