At last it’s been confirmed that Garth Tander will remain in the Supercars Championship this year, as he returns to the team that gave him his break into Supercars, Garry Rogers Motorsport.
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One of the nicest guys of the sport, Tander first raced with the Holden Racing Team in 2008, and was expected to stay with the Walkinshaw Racing-owned outfit after Holden stripped them of the HRT name and handed it to the Triple Eight Racing team. However, he was told he was not wanted for 2017 when only days after he and Warren Luff won the Sandown 500 he visited the workshop to see the team.
It is believed the team will again run the Volvos, although a legal stoush with Volvo Car Australia to continue using the S60s this season has failed to come up with a decision. A highlight of his time at GRM was in 2000 when he finished runner up in the championship and along with Jason Bargwanna won the Bathurst 1000.
Auto Action has reported Tander will drive alongside James Moffat at GRM and will act as a mentor to GRM's young driver, James Goulding. GT will be at GRM for at least two years.
Confirmation has also come from Prodrive Racing Australia, where they have made it official that Jason Bright will be returning to his Ford roots and driving the team’s fourth entry.
After he left Brad Jones Racing following the 2016 season, many thought the 43-year-old would be continuing as a enduro driver, so it came as a shock when rumours surfaced on his PRA move that will see him reunite with Mark Winterbottom. The pair were teammates in 2005-06, and won the Sandown 500 in 2006.
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Be prepared for an official announcement, hopefully tomorrow, on a new event to be run as a support to this year's Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour. Leading motoring journalist Paul Gover recently broke the news in Auto Action, describing it as an event that will be irresistible to companies such as Audi, BMW, Nissan and Mercedes and will be run against the clock in three 15-minute time attack sessions.
The 12 Hour is getting bigger all the time with news of a super team that has been put together by businessman come amateur driver Scott Taylor. He has engaged leading German driver Maro Engel with Kiwis Shane van Gisbergen and Craig Baird in a new Mercedes with backing of the factory AMG and leading GT3 team HTP with whom Engel drives.
A team of this calibre is now made possible with the rule change that allows three “pro” drivers to compete in the same car.
Van Gisbergen and Engel were recently rated the second and third best GT3 drivers in the world by online publication Racing.GT.
