Season in Review: Garth Tander

A season to remember for his drives out of the pack to the podium, Garth Tander’s 2015 showed the sheer guts and determination the 38-year old has. 

When DJR Team Penske boss Ryan Story he was “harder to pass than a kidney stone” he wasn’t wrong! 

Strong drives with Warren Luff during the long-distance races culminated in winning the Pirtek Enduro Cup, though in terms of races it was a winless season for Tander – his first since 2012. 

There were some sour battles with teammate James Courtney – who took him out two rounds in a row, and had the team tearing their fingernails off in close battles on the Gold Coast and in Townsville – and an exchange of words with David Reynolds. 

But ultimately his year could be summed up in one lap at Bathurst – as he said to v8supercars.com.au reflecting on his season: “I think we passed four cars in one and a half corners”.  

Best race of the year? 

“Probably Bathurst – every lap was a qualifying lap and no mistakes, so I was pretty happy with that one.”

Best on-track battle with another driver? 

“I’ve had a few this year – it’s hard to go between the Bathurst pass, where I got a couple of guys, or the Homebush one. 

“Probably the Bathurst one, to be honest – I think we passed four cars on one and a half corners.”  

Most disappointing race? 

“Darwin, race two. We came from I think 15th on the grid, was past the guy that was on pole, and then got taken out by my teammate again which was frustrating.” 

Best off-track memory or experience? 

“Probably Jack Perkins’ first win. Seeing the way Jack stepped in over those events and then to get that win at the Gold Coast was pretty cool.

“Seeing him achieve that was pretty special.”

Best performance by another driver? 

“Other than Frosty, who won the championship, the one that stood out to me was Craig [Lowndes]. 

“If you actually sit back and look at the year he had, he pretty much got everything other than winning the Championship.

“Six Bathursts – it’s starting to become hard work to catch that if he keeps winning!” 

Tell me about your goal at the start of the season and how that played out. 

“The goal was to be top three in the Championship, and realistically we were probably at best going to be top five the way the year played out. So I don’t even know where I finished, I didn’t even look – sixth I think?

“So top three was the goal and you go into the year wanting to battle for the Championship, but I think a realistic goal was top three, so we didn’t really achieve there.” 

Team’s biggest achievement of the year? 

“Probably the Pirtek Enduro Cup. For our car it was good because obviously Luffy and I didn’t have a great Bathurst last year, so to have consistency over those three very different events, so it was good for us. Definitely for our car, the Enduro Cup.”  

Biggest news story or shock announcement of the year? 

“The most mainstream attention was Dave Reynolds’ comments at Bathurst – for all the wrong reasons.” 

Who will improve the most in 2016? 

“James Moffat.” 

What are you most looking forward to in 2016? 

“Winning some races again!” 

The numbers: