Tander, Payne combine for Portugal 24-hour race
Matt Payne, Garth Tander to contest 24H Portimão
Payne, Tander join father-son Grove duo in Mercedes
Payne/Tander, Richie Stanaway/Dale Wood pairings announced last week
Newly-announced enduro pairing Matt Payne and Garth Tander will combine at this weekend’s 24H Portimão as part of an expanded Grove Racing driving crew.
Last week, Penrite Racing confirmed Payne and Tander will combine at the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 on September 13-15, before the Repco Bathurst 1000 on October 10-13.
As Grove Racing resumes its busy GT program this weekend, Tander has scored a call-up alongside Payne, some four months out from the first Supercars enduro of the season.
Grove Racing competed at both the 6H Abu Dhabi and 24H Dubai earlier this year, and will make its first European start of the season in the 24H SERIES Portimão race.
Father and son duo Stephen and Brenton Grove will be joined by Payne and Tander in the team’s Mercedes-AMG GT3 this weekend.
Payne, who is fifth in the Supercars standings heading to the next round in Perth, raced with the team in Dubai and Sepang, and returns in Portugal.
With this weekend’s Portimão event a 24-hour race, the Groves needed a fourth driver, with 2007 Supercars champion Tander getting the call-up.
The Portimão race will be Tander's maiden 24H SERIES start, with the bumper field comprised of nearly 90 drivers from 19 different nationalities.
The race takes place at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, which previously hosted Formula 1 and currently holds MotoGP’s Portuguese Grand Prix.
The Grove squad has stepped up its GT3 program this year, complementing a full-time campaign in Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS, along with the 12 Hours of Sepang and October's Indianapolis 8 Hour.
Tander has previous form in 24-hour races, having won the inaugural Bathurst 24 Hour in 2002 and finished second in 2003.
Grove Racing’s Mercedes entry comes with support from Earl Bamber Motorsport, having made the switch from Porsche.
Track action at Portimão commences on Friday May 10 at 1:30pm local time/10:30pm AEST, with the 24-hour race getting underway at 12:00pm local time/9:00pm AEST on Saturday May 11.
The 2024 season will resume at the Bosch Power Tools Perth SuperSprint in May 17-19. Tickets for the Perth event are on sale now. International viewers can follow all the action on Superview.
