hero-img

Reynolds refuses to back down

19 May 2015
Apologises for personal insults but insists Tander "pushes the limit" on-track
4 mins by James Pavey
Advertisement
Reynolds isn't backing down

David Reynolds refused to back down from his criticism of Garth Tander's on-track behaviour when the star drivers came face-to-face on Inside Supercars tonight.

While he apologised for insulting Tander on television and in the media after last Sunday's race at the NP300 Navara Winton SuperSprint, the Bottle-O Ford driver continued to make clear his dissatisfaction with the Holden Racing Team ace's driving standards.

And he went further, suggesting he wasn't the only V8 Supercars driver unhappy with Tander's on-track behaviour.

"I apologise for that," Reynolds said after watching a replay of his post-race interview in which he dubbed Tander a 'd*******'.

"I am not attacking him personally at all, because I actually like Garth as a person. He is actually a good bloke off the track, but when he drives he sometimes pushes the limit a bit."

When show co-host Greg Rust offered the two combatants the chance to call a truce, Reynolds stuck to his guns recounting how he'd watched Scott Pye tangle with Tander when trying to make a pass and go off track.

"I was next in line to have a go at him so I was 'here's Garth again up to his old tricks' and that was what I was mainly annoyed about.

"And it just keeps happening to us and I am not the only person standing up here."

Tander, who is renowned as a tough never-say-die operator on the track, said he wasn't even sure what Reynolds was complaining about.

"No issue with me," he said.

But he made it clear he was disappointed Reynolds didn't approach him post-race to air his grievances.

Advertisement

"I was pretty happy my daughter was watching the TV and got to hear all that," he said sarcastically.

"I actually think it is just average. If you have got a problem have a real chat about it. Don't fire up on TV. We are professionals, we are paid to do a job, we are paid to do a job in the car, we are also paid to do a job out of the car. And part of that job out of that car is to be a professional and a role model.

"And I am no saint, I put my hand up to say that. But silly things like that, silly things in the media that get chatted about, that people pick up and it rolls on and on and on and turns into a four week story.

"We could have just had a chat about it after the race; Dave could have aired his grievances, we could have talked about it like grown men and then got on with it."

Reynolds reiterated his TV interview statement that he didn't go to see Tander after the race because he was so angry he thought he would have physically attacked him: "I probably wouldn't have been able to control myself at the time because I was really angry..."

To which Tander shot back: "I don't think that would have really been too much of a problem Dave."

During the Inside Supercars segment Reynolds explained to Tander what had happened in the incident as they battled for fourth place.

"I passed you into (turn) seven and then we were up to eight and you kind of leant on my car and tried to spin me around. That's what the majority of anger and frustration was at."

Asked by show co-host Mark Skaife if he went "spacko inside the car", Reynolds said: "I gave him the finger and stuff, I was punching the steering wheel. I was so angry."

But Tander had a different recollection of events.

"I think the incident that Dave was talking about there were a couple of things that went on," he explained. "From my recollection there was a bit of contact in the middle of turn seven that got me wide and then he hit me again and ran me wide again, so then we were running into eight and we were touching again and that was that.

"That was racing and if Dave has a problem with that maybe next time don't mouth off to the cameras and the media come and have a chat about it."

Related News

Advertisement