Tander opens up on 'cathartic' autobiography process

Garth Tander admits he needed some convincing to put his life into print, with the Supercars champion’s autobiography now for sale.

Tander’s autobiography The Finish Line, which was co-written by Aaron Noonan, has gone on sale in the lead-up to this year's Repco Bathurst 1000.

The West Aussie-born driver turned broadcaster won 58 Supercars races, headlined by the 2007 championship and six Bathurst victories. Only Peter Brock, Jim Richards and Craig Lowndes have won Bathurst more times.

The process of the book began across February and March, and in Tander’s words, “came together quite fast.”

Speaking to Supercars.com, Tander revealed he got advice from former rival Mark Winterbottom, who himself released an autobiography in 2025.

“Look, I had to be convinced. I had a few people say, 'No, absolutely you should do it’, and that was while I was still driving,” Tander said.

“So I started considering it, but I was only ever going to do it once I'd finished driving. I had a chat to Mark Winterbottom about it actually after his book, and he's like, 'Yeah, you should do it. It's really, really, really cool’.

"Noons has been onto me for a while to do one, as had my manager, James Henderson. It seemed like a nice full stop on the driving part of my life.”

Tander pulled up stumps on his racing career after winning the 2025 Bathurst 1000 with Matt Payne, and transitioned into full-time commentary in 2026.

The last few years have been tough away from the track for Tander, whose father Dirk passed away just weeks after his 2022 Bathurst win.

“Cathartic is exactly the word,” Tander said of the story-telling process.

“There was a lot of stuff I'd forgotten. It was always seemed to be parked deep in the back of your brain somewhere that you've forgotten about.

“It’s funny, you do all these functions and sports nights where you recount all these stories. There were a couple that I'd spoken to Noons about for the book, and he said, ‘I’m not so sure that's actually accurate’.

"I found out that I've been telling a couple of stories inaccurately at sports nights for the last 20-odd years! So that was fun to find out. We did it chronologically. Cathartic is absolutely the word.

“The stuff about my Dad when he passed, that was obviously a tough period of my life. I'd just separated from Leanne and then my old man passed away unexpectedly, it was still pretty raw, talking about it and writing that down.”

Having started 600 races, Tander admitted some memories slipped through the cracks. However, through the tough times, Tander enjoyed being able to reflect on the dizzying heights, highlighting by his remarkable 2007 title campaign.

"Well, I forgot I won a race in Canberra, because Canberra for me has got such negative memories from the year 2000 when I effectively lost the championship,” Tander said.

"I made a lot of mistakes, which we went into in the book quite a bit. I'd sort of forgotten about a couple of Bathursts, where I even finished the race. 2002 was completely blank for me, and I think we finished sixth or something!

“You obviously enjoy reflecting on the positive events. There's some championship races that sort of blur into each other over the 21-year journey of my full-time career.

“But the 2007 year, you remember all the significant races of that year because it was obviously a marquee year for me. That was really enjoyable. Next year, that's 20 years old, that championship. I’ve burnt a lot of brain cells between then.”

The Finish Line, a 320 page hardcover book published by Harper Collins, is on sale from September 29 in stores, and the V8 Sleuth Superstore.