Garth Tander rejoins TCR Australia field

Garth Tander will return to the TCR Australia field this weekend in the Audi previously driven by wife Leanne.

Tander takes over Melbourne Performance Centre’s #3 RS 3 LMS for the penultimate round of the season at Sandown.

His addition makes for two multiple Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 winners in the MPC ranks with Russell Ingall continuing in the #100 Audi, while young guns Aaron Cameron and Liam McAdam will pilot the team’s Volkswagen and another Audi respectively.

The drive comes just three weeks out from this year’s Bathurst 1000, in which Tander will serve as co-driver to the Red Bull Holden Racing Team’s Shane van Gisbergen.

“It is great to be back in TCR. We’d always looked at Sandown as one of the circuits that would suit the Audi, so I’m glad this opportunity has come up,” said Tander, who won Race 1 of TCR’s July round at The Bend.

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“I think it will be an interesting challenging. We haven’t been to a track where you have to use the kerbs, because as we know, that’s the fastest way to get around Sandown.

“And it’s good to get some miles under my belt leading into the Bathurst 1000 next month.

“We know the pack battle in TCR is tight, the competition is tight and the competition is competitive so it’s great to get amongst that again and keep myself race fit.”

Tander will race two Audis at the Melbourne circuit given he is also slated to drive an R8 LMS Evo in the weekend’s Australian Endurance Championship round.

The 17-car TCR field will also feature factory Honda driver Nestor Girolami in a Wall Racing Civic, while Bryce Fullwood switches over to a Kelly Racing Opel (Holden) Astra after the Braeside squad opted to sideline its Subaru WRXs.

The official entry list also confirms that Jason Bright’s two Volkswagens, of which he and Alexandra Whitley are the drivers, will now be run by Melbourne Performance Centre rather than Matt Stone Racing.

Practice starts on Friday, while all three races will be telecast live on SBS and streamed online, including via Speedcafe.com.

Entry list: Round 6, Sandown International Motor Raceway

Num	Team/Sponsor	Driver	Car
2	Melbourne Performance Centre	Aaron Cameron	Volkswagen Golf GTI
3	Audi Sport Team Valvoline	Garth Tander	Audi RS 3
7	Garry Rogers Motorsport	Jordan Cox	Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce
8	Taskforce/Melbourne Performance Centre	Jason Bright	Volkswagen Golf GTI
9	Ashley Seward Motorsport	Dylan O’Keeffe	Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce
11	HMO Customer Racing	Nathan Morcom	Hyundai I30N
24	Wall Racing	John Martin	Honda Civic Type R
30	HMO Customer Racing	Will Brown	Hyundai I30N
33	Garry Rogers Motorsport	Chris Pither	Renault Megane RS
34	Garry Rogers Motorsport	James Moffat	Renault Megane RS
35	Melbourne Performance Centre	Alexandra Whitley	Volkswagen Golf GTI
38	Wall Racing	Néstor Girolami	Honda Civic Type R
50	Wall Racing	Tony D’Alberto	Honda Civic Type R
62	Kelly Racing	Bryce Fullwood	Holden Astra
97	Melbourne Performance Centre	Liam McAdam	Audi RS 3
100	Melbourne Performance Centre	Russell Ingall	Audi RS 3
777	Kelly Racing	Andre Heimgartner	Holden Astra