Tander raring to step up in new Supercars commentary era

Garth Tander has seen and done it all in the world of Supercars, but now he's eyes forward on his new chapter leading Supercars' television broadcasts.

Tander's career numbers place him right among the best to have ever done it, with 58 career wins, six Bathurst 1000 wins, and a championship win in 2007 for the HSV Dealer Team.

As it turned out, Tander won his final career start last year at the Repco Bathurst 1000, he and Matt Payne claiming Penrite Racing's maiden Bathurst win in one of the all-time epics.

Now, he will be the focal point of Supercars' new look commentary team for 2026, joining rotating play-by-play callers Chad Neylon, Matt Naulty, and Richard Craill, as well as fellow champions James Courtney and Mark Winterbottom.

"It's a huge responsibility, I'm really excited for the role," Tander said.

"I've been very fortunate in my post driving career to effectively do my apprenticeship for the last three or four years. and to step into the main box is a real honour.

"It's great to follow in some real legends of the sport that have done it in the past, and I'm really excited about what the future of the sport looks like.

Tander, Winterbottom, and Courtney will all bring current insights into the competitiveness of the Gen3 era, with that latter pair having competed full-time as recently as last year in Courtney's case.

"I'm really looking forward to bringing some fresh insight into the sport, some fresh language, and just fresh eyes," Tander said.

"Whenever you do anything and new people come in, it's a fresh set of eyes and I'm really excited to be part of what is a really refreshed line-up."

Tander has been at the forefront of the youth shift on the driver front, playing a mentoring role to Penrite Racing young guns Payne and Kai Allen in his role as Strategic Advisor with the team.

Now Rylan Gray, Zach Bates, Jobe Stewart, Jayden Ojeda, and Jackson Walls join the grid for their first full-time campaigns, with Declan Fraser also returning two years after his debut campaign to be part of the youngest-ever Supercars grid.

"The championship's in a really exciting place right now," said Tander when asked about the quality of the field.

"So many young drivers coming through, six rookies in this year's championship. You know, we had a rookie in the Finals, the final four last year in Kai Allen.

"They seem to get younger and younger every year, and that's really exciting about the future."

With what promises to be another competitive year capped off by the second running of the Repco Supercars Finals Series, Tander isn't willing to bet on who might be crowned champion, but is intrigued as to what learnings will be taken from last year's Finals.

"It's funny, every year as we go into the championship, everyone's gonna win the championship," Tander said.

"We've got 24 competitors in the championship, and every single one of them thinks they've got a chance to win the championship.

"Ultimately, with The Finals the way they are now going into the second year of The Finals, everyone understands how that works, so to pick a winner right now is a fools' game."

A growing international interest in Supercars, thanks to the success of former champions Scott McLaughlin and Shane van Gisbergen in IndyCar and NASCAR respectively, has also seen international drivers turn focus towards Supercars.

2022 Daytona 500 winner Austin Cindric ran in a Tickford wildcard entry at last year's bp Adelaide Grand Final, whilst two-time World Rally Champion Kalle Rovanpera was left wanting more after watching Ryan Wood in a demonstration run in New Zealand.

However, perhaps capturing the most attention was four-time Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen driving a Red Bull Ampol Racing-liveried Mustang as part of a Red Bull F1/Ford promotional video.

"We're really incredibly fortunate in Supercars to have a championship that is so well regarded internationally," Tander added.

"There's so many drivers that want to come and be part of our championship that have come from significant overseas championships.

"There's a lot more Americans interested in our sport now given what Shane van Gisbergen is doing in their world in NASCAR, and we saw that with Austin Cindric coming down and doing a wildcard last year.

"I think there'll be much more of that in the future. We're really, really lucky that we've got such a really exciting championship."

The 2026 Repco Supercars Championship begins at the DUNLOP Sydney 500 from February 20-22. Tickets for the event, including free general admission on DUNLOP Free Friday, are on sale now.