Tander continues Clipsal 500 form with victory

Garth Tander has won a time-shortened opening race of the 2011 Clipsal 500.

Tander fended off a charging Jamie Whincup in the closing stages, with Craig Lowndes, Jason Bright and Fabian Coulthard rounding out the top five.

The final order was largely determined by fuel strategy, with Tander and Whincup among many to benefit from two long Safety Cars in the final stint to make it home on just two stops.

Rick Kelly ran strongly early in the day, but fell back into the pack by making a third pit stop while the other leading contenders stayed out. The Jack Daniel’s Commodore was 12th at the flag.

Lowndes went off-strategy early and also completed three stops before scything through the top 10 runners in the final third of the race.

Mark Winterbottom was sixth despite losing time due to congestion in his second pitstop, while Todd Kelly, Tim Slade, Will Davison and Jason Bargwanna rounded out the top 10.

James Courtney was an early race casualty, dropping 10 laps with a trip into the tyre barrier at the exit of Turn 7 thanks to a steering arm failure.

The two extended Safety Car periods were to retrieve the stranded cars of Steve Owen, who crashed heavily at Turn 8 on Lap 45, and James Moffat, who spun into the path of Tony D’Alberto at Turn 9 on Lap 60.

Also to cause Safety Cars were David Reynolds, who visited the Turn 11 gravel trap on Lap 31, and Russell Ingall, who hit the Turn 13 tyre barrier after an apparent tyre issue on Lap 70.

Tander’s victory sees him equal Peter Brock on 48 career race wins.

Provisional Results; race 3; V8 Supercars Championship

1	2	Garth Tander	Holden Commodore VE2	76
2	88	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore VE2	76
3	888	Craig Lowndes	Holden Commodore VE2	76
4	8	Jason Bright	Holden Commodore VE2	76
5	61	Fabian Coulthard	Holden Commodore VE2	76
6	5	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Falcon FG	76
7	7	Todd Kelly	Holden Commodore VE2	76
8	47	Tim Slade	Ford Falcon FG	76
9	6	Will Davison	Ford Falcon FG	76
10	14	Jason Bargwanna	Holden Commodore VE2	76
11	17	Steven Johnson	Ford Falcon FG	76
12	15	Rick Kelly	Holden Commodore VE2	76
13	9	Shane Van Gisbergen	Ford Falcon FG	76
14	19	Jonathon Webb	Ford Falcon FG	76
15	12	Dean Fiore	Ford Falcon FG	76
16	34	Michael Caruso	Holden Commodore VE2	76
17	3	Tony D’Alberto	Ford Falcon FG	76
18	11	Greg Murphy	Holden Commodore VE2	76
19	21	Karl Reindler	Holden Commodore VE2	76
20	33	Lee Holdsworth	Holden Commodore VE2	76
21	30	Warren Luff	Holden Commodore VE2	75
22	16	David Reynolds	Holden Commodore VE2	74
23	4	Alex Davison	Ford Falcon FG	71
24	1	James Courtney	Holden Commodore VE2	66
25	55	Paul Dumbrell	Ford Falcon FG	63
DNF	39	Russell Ingall	Holden Commodore VE2	68
DNF	18	James Moffat	Ford Falcon FG	58
DNF	49	Steve Owen	Holden Commodore VE2	44