The Holden Racing Team have bounced back from yesterday’s disastrous race at the Winton SuperSprint with an impressive drive by Garth Tander to finish 5th and James Courtney to finish in a respectable 7th position.

This morning’s 20 minute qualifying session once again proved difficult and both HRT drivers positioning themselves towards the back of the grid for Race 12. With James starting the 200km race in 16th and team mate Garth one place behind in 17th, they had a challenging task ahead.

Both the #2 and #22 teams opted for a soft-hard-soft tyre strategy, two of only four cars on the grid choosing to start on the soft rubber. Garth and James both got a good start, negotiated their way through turn one cleanly, and quickly moved up a number of places on the opening lap.

Tander continued to charge through the field early on in the 200km race, rounding up slower cars ahead on hard tyres. James, not letting his team mate get too far away, followed suit.

After the first round of stops were complete Garth was travelling in a comfortable 4th place and James in 9th. The safety car was called on lap 33 after Mostert ran off the track, Garth and James both pitted and swapped back to soft tyres. The 67-lap race was restarted with 31 laps remaining.

Battling with cars challenging him from behind for position and a failed cool-suit, Garth passed the chequered flag in 5th. James made a late assault on slower cars in the dying laps and charged home in 7th – a good recovery for the team to finish a tough weekend.

James is now 4th and Garth 6th in the Championship standings. The next stop in the V8 Supercars series is the SkyCity Triple Crown Darwin 19-21 June.

Garth Tander, #2 Holden Commodore VF
Qualifying for Race 12: 17th
Race 12 Result: 5th
Fastest Lap Time: 1:24.5804

James Courtney, #22 Holden Commodore VF
Qualifying for Race 12: 16th
Race 12 Result: 7th
Fastest Lap Time: 1:25.1201