However, the man who was dumped by Garry Rogers Motorsport then subsequently signed up to partner Red Bull Racing's Shane van Gisbergen for the endurance rounds said that's not on his mind.

For the man who will line up for his 22^nd start in the Great Race, his aim this year is the same as any other - to push for perfection on the iconic and demanding circuit.

It is to seek the elusive perfect lap each time he drives around the 6.213 kilometres of the Mount.

"If you go there with a point to prove, Bathurst tends to bite you on the bum," Tander said.

"I always go there to test myself against the track because it's the track and event that we have here in Australia where I don't think anyone has ever done a perfect lap around there.

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"You talk to guys like Greg Murphy and Scott McLaughlin - Murph when he did his 2:06.8 when it was the Lap of the Gods 16 years ago and then McLaughlin when he did that 2:03 lap a couple of years ago, even those guys then said that they made a couple of mistakes and could have been better.

"I don't think anyone has done a perfect lap around there and anyone who says they have is probably lying.

"That's why I always go there, to measure myself against the track, not all the external expectations about winning and all the talk and the rest of it, that's just sort of noise."

Talk of winning might be something Tander views as 'noise', but there is no denying he and van Gisbergen rank amongst the favourites for this year's 1000.

Red Bull has an impressive record at the Mount and van Gisbergen's desire for a maiden Peter Brock Trophy win is strong.

"Being teamed up with Shane, who is second in the championship at the moment, super hungry for success at the mountain with a team that knows how to win up there - you couldn't ask for a better recipe as a co-driver," Tander said.