Tander: Where the 2024 championship will be won
Garth Tander explains where 2024 title will be won
Tander says WAU is fast, but Triple Eight has title fight experience
Tander won Walkinshaw's last championship in 2007
Walkinshaw Andretti United has the speed, but Triple Eight has the championship experience.
That's the story of the 2024 Repco Supercars Championship, according to Garth Tander, as the title fight arrives at a critical juncture in Tasmania.
Triple Eight driver Will Brown leads WAU rival Chaz Mostert by 105 points, with Brown's teammate Broc Feeney 48 points behind in third.
Mostert has out-scored Brown by 174 points in the last two rounds, with the WAU star reeling off four consecutive podiums to score 567 of a possible 600 points.
Supercars fans believe Mostert is in the box seat to win the championship, with the two-time Bathurst winner accruing 56 percent of a fan poll on Supercars.com.
Mostert has vowed to be aggressive, while Feeney is adamant he is still well and truly a factor in the title fight. Then, there's Cam Waters, who is determined to put the leaders under pressure as he aims to claw back more ground.
After Mostert's double-win in Sydney, however, Tander expressed his scepticism over WAU's hopes, saying Triple Eight has accrued enough championship experience over recent years to be able to withstand the pressure.
There have already been pressure moments for both camps in 2024; Brown beat Mostert in the pits en route to victory in Bathurst, while Mostert lost a wheel in a costly incident in Taupō.
Speaking on the Rusty's Garage podcast, Tander said: “On speed, yes, I think [WAU] have the speed to win the championship.
"When it comes to a real championship battle, real hardcore, going at it, grinding it out, and it becomes not just a game on track but a game off track with the head games.
“When the team getting involved with executing pit stops and executing under pressure. You’ve got to remember, Triple Eight have been doing that year in, year out for the last 15 years.
“The last time the Walkinshaw group won a championship, was when I won in 2007. So it’s been a long time since they’ve been in that championship hunt, and been championship hardened.
“On speed, yes they can win. But can they do it when the pressure's really on as a team unit? I guess we’ll find out.”
Tander reiterated that WAU's season hinges on the team's performance in Tasmania and Sandown, which will be held on the Super Soft tyre, something the Ford squad struggled to unlock in Darwin.
Mostert and Ryan Wood both failed to crack the top 10 in qualifying at Hidden Valley, and should it happen again in Tasmania, Tander believes it will be a harder road back. Post-Sydney, Mostert also admitted it was a "question mark" the team needed to address.
Conversely, Triple Eight has won 26 of the last 39 races at Symmons Plains, and recently completed a test day between events. Later, Brown was clear in his assessment, saying he hoped the test unlocked the speed to "beat Chaz."
“[WAU] have been absolutely real. But they’ve had a couple of rounds like Darwin for example on the Super Soft tyre," Tander said.
“They came off the back of Perth, they absolutely blitzed everyone speed wise, so you’d expect, ‘Oh wow, they’re going to go to Darwin and be strong’.
“But on the Super Soft tyre, they were nowhere, Chaz qualified outside the top 20 in both races. Recovered pretty well in the races, but didn’t have the one lap speed.
“We go to Tassie this weekend on the Super Soft tyre. If you qualify outside the top 20, you’re not going to get yourself back in the game at Tassie.”
Track action at the NED Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint begins with practice on Friday at 2:20pm local time.
