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Reynolds furious after battle with Tander

18 May 2015
"He got off lightly ... it's unacceptable behaviour from him and I will pay him back one day," Bottle-O racer vows.
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David Reynolds was left reeling yesterday at Winton, after an intense on-track exchange with Garth Tander when the Ford and Holden drivers battled for fourth position.

Reynolds was on fresher soft tyres but notorious hard racer Tander - who made an amazing comeback after starting 17th - fought to stay in the battle, at the NP300 Navara Winton SuperSprint.

Both drivers feature in the top 10 in the Championship - Reynolds now ninth andTander sixth - and after a hard weekend for HRT, and Reynolds' teammates doing all the winning at Winton, both were pushing hard to finish up in the order.

Post-race, The Bottle-O's Reynolds was furious about the on-track exchange, clearly unhappy with the 2007 V8 Supercars Champion's driving.

"Why would I be happy with someone who drives like a wXXXXX?" Reynolds told v8supercars.com.au.

"I passed him into seven, let him hang around the outside at seven, we've got to turn eight he's tried to, like, turn me around."

DJR Team Penske's Scott Pye was also racing hard in the battle pack and Reynolds believes Tander didn't do him any favours either.

"I saw him try and put Scott Pye in the fence - Scott Pye should've turned him around and ended his day. And I should've probably done the same, so he got off lightly...

"It's unacceptable behaviour from him and I will pay him back one day... he's not a bad bloke off the track, so I can't really go up and give him an elbow to the face."

The Bottle-O driver finished the race sixth after qualifying third behind his Prodrive Racing (Australia) teammates Chaz Mostert and Mark Winterbottom.

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Tander finished the day one position ahead in fifth, choosing the alternate strategy of starting on the Dunlop soft tyre, which was affected by Mostert's mid-race safety car, but still seemed to pay off for both him and third-placed Craig Lowndes.

While Tander spoke to v8supercars.com.au prior to Reynolds' comments, he did not mention the Bottle-O Falcon. The stewards' post-race report did not indicate an exchange between the two was investigated.

"We struggled a bit at the end but maintained track position and got home in fifth," was all Tander said of his battles during the race.

The top five finish was a great reward for Tander, who was taken out by teammate James Courtney the previous day.

With Walkinshaw Racing stablemate Lee Holdsworth caught in the kerfuffle, not only did the team have cars to repair overnight, it lost the opportunity to earn valuable data to help for Sunday's double points race after mid-pack performances in race one at Winton.

"Look, we're not going out for a beer tonight, but we'll put it behind us, get on with it," Tander said of his relationship with Courtney.

"It was obviously disappointing and it hurt us a lot development-wise going into the day. But you put it behind you and go forward."

Reynolds and Tander may be surprised to come face to face on the Inside Supercars panel tomorrow night, with the lineup having been confirmed prior to Reynolds' words.

Stay tuned for the episode, on FOX SPORTS 506 tomorrow nightfrom 7.30pm.

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