Jamec Racing have revealed that three-time Bathurst 1000 Champion Garth Tander will return to the team for the inaugural carsales TCR Asia Pacific Cup this weekend behind the wheel of a new Audi RS3 LMS TCR, the experienced Supercar campaigner reunited with the team for whom he claimed victory at The Bend Motorsport Park and a string of podium finishes during his three appearances across the opening season of TCR Australia last year.
Carrying the colours of Jamec Racing, Audi Sport customer racing Australia and TCR Australian Series [and Australian Grand Prix] naming rights sponsor carsales, Tander will prove to be a popular addition to a field that includes some of the most exciting young drivers in the country across three 20-minute races.
Tander and Jamec Racing have a relationship that stretches back five years, with the 2007 Supercars champion having contested a number of seasons for Steve McLaughlan’s Audi GT3 team in both the annual Bathurst 12 Hour and the Australian GT Championship, culminating in title victory alongside Geoff Emery in the 2019 Australian Endurance Championship.
With five podiums from his nine TCR starts last year (which included seven top five finishes), Tander could be expected to feature strongly this weekend, the Melbourne-based West Australian the most experienced driver in the field around the Albert Park venue having made his debut on the circuit in 1999 before contesting the event every year thereafter until his final full season in Supercars in 2018.
Across his 20 starts Tander joined an exclusive group of drivers that includes Mark Skaife, Dick Johnson, Jim Richards and John Bowe as a two-time winner of the event, having taken the round win in both 2008 and 2010 for the Holden Racing Team – dominating the 2008 event with pole position and all three race wins, a feat he very nearly emulated in 2010 after again taking another pole and two of the three race wins (the opening race netting just second!).
One of his favourite circuits, Tander will be keen to return to the podium this weekend in part to impress upon the team and his partners that he is ready to continue to take the fight to the sports future stars in the seven round carsales TCR Australian Series this year.
“That’s our plan,” Jamec Racing team-boss Steve McLaughlan admitted. “We like where TCR is going and we like what it offers drivers, so we’re keen to be on the grid for the full season this year, and Garth is a big part of that plan, we just need to get the Grand Prix event under our belts before the opening round of the season begins at Sydney Motorsport Park at the end of the month.
“With events at Bathurst – a venue at which we’re sure Garth will feature strongly – Phillip Island, and The Bend where he won last year, we feel he could be a strong contender for the title, so we’re pushing very hard to make that happen.”
carsales TCR Asia Pacfic Cup – schedule
Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Victoria
Thursday, 12 March, 2020
11:25am – Practice#1 (20-minutes)
2:15pm – Practice#2 (20-minutes)
4:50pm – Qualifying (20-minutes)
Friday, 13 March, 2020
9:40am – Race#1 (20-minutes)
Saturday, 14 March, 2020
11:25am – Race#2 (20-minutes)
Sunday, 15 March, 2020
10:40am – Race#3 (20-minutes)
