Ascent of victory without pressure
FOUR-TIME winner Garth Tander says Shane van Gisbergen’s 2021 championship victory has put the pair’s Bathurst 1000 defence in an even stronger position as they prepare to go all out for Mount Panorama glory.
As Tander aims to join an elite club as a five-time winner of the Bathurst 1000, the Triple Eight co-driver said van Gisbergen’s championship win had helped to ease the pressure on the red-hot race favourites this weekend.
Van Gisbergen clinched the 2021 Supercars championship
after the last washed-out race at Sydney Motorsport Park after finishing the round with an unassailable lead over teammate Jamie Whincup.
Declaring there was “no pressure” on the defending champions, Tander said having the championship already decided would allow the pair to focus solely on their strategy for the 1000km classic.
“It’s actually easier now that he’s won the championship because we don’t have to worry about the championship over the course of the Bathurst weekend,” Tander said.
“Now it’s just come to Bathurst, race 1000km as fast as we can and put our best foot forward and if we have a good day and do everything well we should be among it.”
Sealing his second Supercars championship win after taking 14 races this year, van Gisbergen said having the Supercars title in the bag would allow him to go “all out” for another Mount Panorama crown and seal the championship-Bathurst double.
“If the championship was still up for grabs we would have had to be quite calculated with what we did,” he said. “But now we can just go all out for the race.”
A four-time Bathurst 1000 winner alongside Whincup, Allan Moffat and Greg Murphy, Tander can join Steven Richards as a five-time victor if he and van Gisbergen can salute this weekend. Peter Brock (nine), Jim Richards and Craig Lowndes (seven), Mark Skaife and Larry Perkins (six) sit on the list ahead of them. Despite the pair’s favouritism, Tander was not taking the rest of the field for granted.
“I think there are plenty of other cars more than capable of winning this race,” Tander said. How could you go past Jamie?”