Garth Tander wins in the streets of Townsville leading home his teammate James Courtney for a 1-2 Holden finish.

Holden Racing’s Garth Tander has achieved his first win since Bathurst in 2011, with teammate James Courtney holding on in second place for a 1-2 finish.

 

A race full of strategy saw Holden pit its two VF Commodores, giving the drivers a soft-tyre advantage over most of the field.

 

Holden Racing decided to run a two-stint strategy, making its drivers pit for second-hand soft tyres.

 

Despite sustaining damage after kissing the wall at Turn 10 in making a move on Scott McLaughlin, Tander still managed to bring home the win.

 

The start saw Ford’s Mark Winterbottom get a great jump on the rest of the field, but later his decision not to pit under the Lap 9 safety car caused him to fall to fourth place.

 

Shane van Gisbergen took third place after running a similar pit-strategy to Holden Racing, making great progress starting closer to the rear of the field.

 

Russell Ingall and Tony D’Alberto made it a top six effort for Walkinshaw Performance built Commodores, with Craig Lowndes, Tim Slade, McLaughlin and Will Davison rounding out the top 10.

 

The race’s only retirement was Lee Holdsworth, who had engine dramas with his Erebus Motorsport Mercedes and stopped into the run of Turn 11.

 

After Race 21 of the championship at Townsville, the current championship standings see Jamie Whincup leading Lowndes by 111 points, with Ford’s Davison and Winterbottom closing in on the series lead.

 

 

1	Holden Racing Team	Garth Tander	Holden Commodore VF	01:30:04.1639	1:14.0127
2	Holden Racing Team	James Courtney	Holden Commodore VF	01:30:04.4830	1:13.9505
3	TEKNO Team VIP	Shane Van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore VF	01:30:13.5491	1:13.9319
4	Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Falcon FG	01:30:25.7667	1:14.3657
5	Supercheap Auto Racing	Russell Ingall	Holden Commodore VF	01:30:31.6601	1:14.1909
6	Team HIFLEX	Tony D’Alberto	Holden Commodore VF	01:30:31.9113	1:14.0973
7	Red Bull Racing Australia	Craig Lowndes	Holden Commodore VF	01:30:32.5797	1:14.2647
8	Heavy Haulage Australia Racing	Tim Slade	Mercedes E63 AMG	01:30:34.2168	1:14.0378
9	Fujitsu Racing GRM	Scott McLaughlin	Holden Commodore VF	01:30:38.6971	1:14.4242
10	Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford	Will Davison	Ford Falcon FG	01:30:41.0017	1:14.3212
11	Red Bull Racing Australia	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore VF	01:30:41.1436	1:14.3661
12	Tekno Autosports	Jonathon Webb	Holden Commodore VF	01:30:41.7028	1:14.4280
13	Wilson Security Racing	Chaz Mostert	Ford Falcon FG	01:30:50.6356	1:14.3521
14	Norton 360 Racing	James Moffat	Nissan Altima	01:30:51.9295	1:14.4995
15	Jack Daniel’s Racing	Todd Kelly	Nissan Altima	01:30:53.7465	1:14.4089
16	Team BOC	Jason Bright	Holden Commodore VF	01:30:56.0802	1:14.3670
17	Lockwood Racing	Fabian Coulthard	Holden Commodore VF	01:30:56.7994	1:14.5728
18	Jeld-wen FPR Ford	Alex Davison	Ford Falcon FG	01:30:59.3225	1:14.2479
19	Fujitsu Racing GRM	Alexandre Premat	Holden Commodore VF	01:30:59.7491	1:14.4371
20	Jack Daniel’s Racing	Rick Kelly	Nissan Altima	01:31:03.8867	1:14.5206
21	ekol Racing	Scott Pye	Holden Commodore VF	01:31:04.1821	1:14.4103
22	Norton 360 Racing	Michael Caruso	Nissan Altima	01:31:12.7810	1:14.4376
23	Wilson Security Racing	Tim Blanchard	Ford Falcon FG	01:31:12.8491	1:14.3125
24	Dodo Insurance Racing	Dean Fiore	Holden Commodore VF	01:30:14.2590	1:14.6014
25	Wilson Security Racing	David Wall	Holden Commodore VF	01:30:41.8085	1:14.1332
26	The Bottle-O FPR Ford	David Reynolds	Ford Falcon FG	01:31:03.2834	1:15.4498
27	SP Tools Racing	Maro Engel	Mercedes E63 AMG	01:30:48.6833	1:16.2359
DNF	Irwin Racing	Lee Holdsworth	Mercedes E63 AMG	7:49.4783	1:15.960

 

Written by Loren Hazelwood @LorenHazelwood

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