Tander: Penrite Racing 'in a good spot' after test

Garth Tander believes Penrite Racing is well-placed ahead of the 2023 season after the team’s first two-car test.

Penrite Racing joined the entire 2023 Repco Supercars Championship field at Wednesday’s all-in test at Sydney Motorsport Park.

Wednesday’s running saw all 25 brand-new Gen3 cars share a race track for the first time.

It was also the first time Penrite Racing ran its two new cars together after separate shakedowns.

As he did at both shakedowns, Tander — who joined the team from Red Bull Ampol Racing — watched over proceedings and also got behind the wheel.

Having now enjoyed three track days in Penrite colours, Tander likes what he sees ahead of the team’s upcoming test.

"Good day, obviously first time we’ve run both cars together on the same day,” the 2007 series champion said.

"Good to get a bit of wet weather running early in the morning.

"The weather was a bit if a challenge, so we didn’t get through our whole test program, but cars were good.

"As always the way on test days you learn a lot of what not to do as much as you learn what to do.

"I think we’re in a pretty good spot and looking forward to testing again next week.”

Matt Payne and David Reynolds were 17th and 19th overall on the timesheets in their new Fords, and combined for 116 laps of the 3.91km circuit.

The team kept to its program, leaving Payne happy with his first test day with Reynolds also on the track with him.

“The day went really well — we started out and it was a little bit wet so we were getting a feel for the car with the wet conditions,” the Kiwi said.

"It was good; we didn’t know what to expect — then it dried up a little bit and that was good to get some dry running in and that’s what we came here for.

"Made some set up changes and definitely made good progress today. Overall, it’s been very positive and can’t wait for our next test day at Winton.”

The team will test at Winton Motor Raceway next week before turning attention to the season-opener in Newcastle.

The 2023 Repco Supercars Championship will commence at the Thrifty Newcastle 500 on March 10-12.

Tickets are on sale on Supercars.com and Ticketek.com.