The Holden Racing Team (HRT) heads to the fast flowing and exciting Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix (AGP) circuit this weekend at Albert Park in Melbourne, for the second event of the V8 Supercars season.

Although no championship points will be awarded at the AGP both Garth Tander and James Courtney are focussed on continuing their winning form from Clipsal, after taking home three podium trophies and one pole position trophy between them.

HRT is still the most successful V8 Supercar team in history at Albert Park having won 19 races, and it’s Tander who has been the most successful driver for the team.

Tander currently sits second to Russell Ingall for the greatest number of race wins – seven - and he has previously started from pole position twice. Courtney is no stranger to winning at the circuit either having won a race in 2010.

Garth Tander, #2 Holden Commodore VF:

“I’m looking forward to the grand prix weekend, it’s always exciting for a couple of reasons. It’s the first round for F1 and everyone is excited about that, and for us coming off the back of a strong Clipsal weekend it’s a good opportunity to continue to work and develop the cars.”

“Track running is at such a premium this year and even though we will be giving 100% during the course of the weekend, being a non-championship event we will be doing a bit of development work as well.”

“The track evolves quite a bit over the course of weekend because with the F1 cars running and the track rubbers up, so it changes quite a bit from Thursday through to Sunday. Staying on top of these changes is quite important.”

“AGP is like any event and you need to qualify well. We do rolling starts which adds a different element to the weekend and qualifying well is even more critical when it comes to a rolling start.”

“We need to improve our qualifying performance with my car, which is one area we need to improve the most.”

“Obviously all the stats are nice, but that’s not the motivation for the weekend. We want to have a really solid weekend and if we can get on the podium that would be fantastic.”

James Courtney, #22 Holden Commodore VF:

“I think we have a good chance of winning this weekend as the car is performing really, really well at the moment. Having said that AGP is a very different style of circuit and I think we are chasing this style of circuit a little bit with our car.”

“It’s a very different circuit compared to Adelaide as it’s a fast circuit with a lot of high speed corners. It’s also quite heavy on the brakes so the brake package gets a really big workout. With the fast flowing sections it will be interesting to see how the new aero package handles it.”

“With the adjustments we have made over the Christmas period and new componentry on the car I am really looking forward to driving on a really fast and flowing grand prix circuit.”

“Grand prix has been a tough event for me in the past and we have tested a lot of componentry over this event, it would be great for me to win again and get some good results.”

“I go into every race to win it whether it is for Championship points or not. It’s the same for me a win is a win. Points are a bonus – so I feel the same amount of pressure to win at this event.”

“I always like coming to this event as it’s well run and there is always a great crowd that turns out. I’m definitely looking to get some better results this year.”

When is the Holden Racing Team on track? (Times are AEDT)
Thursday 12th March:
1:15pm Practice Part 1
3:10pm Practice Part 2
5:15pm Qualifying

Friday 13th March:
2:20pm Race 1
6:20pm Race 2

Saturday 14th March:
3:25pm Race 3

Sunday 15th March:
12:10pm Race 4