Can Garth Tander pull off a third straight Phillip Island endurance win at this weekend's L&H 500?
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By Briar Gunther 9:48 AM Thu 9 September, 2010
Source: BigPond Sport
Toll Holden Racing Team’s Garth Tander is aiming for his third straight endurance win at Phillip Island and he reckons he and co-driver Cam McConville is the best driver combo out there.
Tander won the 2008 race with Mark Skaife and then last year’s L&H 500 with teammate Will Davison, both times ahead of TeamVodafone’s Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes.
But the new rule introduced this year bars teammates from pairing up with each other, breaking the incredibly strong Triple Eight combo.
“For me, we’re in a fortunate position where we really do have two number one drivers in the car with Cameron and me,” Tander said.
“Our motivation is not to win the race just because it’s three in a row, we’re going there to do a good job for our team and get a result for everyone involved.
“It will be nice to win a third straight, we believe we’re capable, but it’s not going to be a walk up start.”
And Toll HRT leads the official racing debut of the V8 Supercar variant of Holden’s recently unveiled flex-fuel VE Commodore Series II.
Not only will Tander and McConville have to stave off the strong TeamVodafone pairings of Whincup and Steve Owen and Lowndes and Mark Skaife to achieve Tander’s third straight win, but many other pairings hungry for a win.
However Championship leader James Courtney, who has Warren Luff on board as his co-driver, is concerned weather could turn the race into a lottery.
“In 2008 it rained near the end of the race and when that happens all the usual plans and pit stop strategy goes out the window,” the Jim Beam Racing driver noted.
“If the weather changes you may have to suddenly switch tyres to whatever suits the track conditions, and the team that adapts best usually comes away with the win.”
Fellow Ford driver Mark Winterbottom, who finished the first half of the season on a high, said he has never been so keen to get back in the car and go racing.
“The test went really well, there’s a few new bits and pieces that we’ve been working on that are sending us all the right signals,” the Ford Performance Racing driver said.
“Luke’s (co-driver Luke Youlden) also feeling good in the car and has been training really hard so I’m confident we’re going to have a pretty good weekend at the Island.”
Meanwhile, Greg Murhy rates himself about an 80 per cent chance to race the Castrol Edge Racing Commodore at the L&H 500.
Murph is still recovering from back surgery but will take part in practice tomorrow (Friday) to assess his fitness.
“I am definitely going to jump into the Castrol Edge Commodore Friday for some laps, but I can’t guarantee I’ll be racing,” he said.
“My back is heaps better, but until I get into the car and do some laps I won’t know if I will have repeatability of braking effort.
“My doctor said that I need to judge things myself based on the pain factor. The back’s fixed, but the wound from surgery is also still healing.
“At this stage I’d say it was 80/20; that’s not definite, but it’s better than the 50/50 chance of a week ago.”
Fellow Kiwi Daniel Gaunt has been drafted to drive with Tim Blanchard if Murph is not up to the task.
For more information on this weekend’s L&H 500 visit http://phillipisland.v8supercars.com.au/home/tabid/591/default.aspx
