Tander dominates Albert Park race 1

Tander got a good start and had already opened a gap by the time he exited turn one.

From there on he was never troubled, despite a late-race safety car period for tyre bundles on the circuit. Tander's victory means that he once again secured the left-hand side of the grid for all the Holdens in race two.

The race was shortened by two laps because it had to be concluded by a specific time, having started about two minutes late. Even without the safety car, the race would still have finished a lap short of its 15 lap scheduled distance.

Will Davison took second place for Jim Beam Racing, after overtaking third-place finisher Rick Kelly on lap two. Both drivers benefitted from contact between Craig Lowndes and Steven Richards at turn 15 at the end of the first lap.

Richards dived down the inside at turn 15, and though Lowndes opened the door a little, it was not enough to prevent Richards making contact, both cars spun and Richards was lucky to avoid taking teammate Mark Winterbottom out in the process.

Richards retired to the pits with a puncture, while Lowndes dropped from second to 20th, but recovered to 13th by race's end. Completing the top five finishers were Tander's teammate Mark Skaife and the aforementioned Winterbottom.

Behind them in sixth was Team Vodafone's Jamie Whincup, who recovered from being edged off at turn 12 and fell to 14th before charging back up the order. In doing so, he made some aggressive passing moves, including a door-banging session as he forced his way past Jason Richards at turn 15.

He also made a diving move inside Russell Ingall after the restart on the final lap at turn four. The rear of Whincup's car and the front of Ingall's car making contact on the exit, causing the 2005 champion to run very wide, eventually finishing 14th with possible steering damage.

James Courtney and Jason Bright engaged in their own private duel just after half-distance. Courtney went by on the inside of turn four after Bright half-spun through the previous corner.

Then, at turn fifteen Courtney ran wide and allowed Bright to sneak back through, the pair making light contact on the exit. As Bright entered the final corner, Courtney dived for the inside but wasn't close enough to complete the pass, tipping Bright into a spin. Courtney was given a drivethrough penalty for the contact.

Pos  Driver                Make     Time
 1.  Garth Tander          Holden   27:54.4393
 2.  Will Davison          Ford     +   2.5938
 3.  Rick Kelly            Holden   +   2.9461
 4.  Mark Skaife           Holden   +   3.3496
 5.  Mark Winterbottom     Ford     +   3.7003
 6.  Jamie Whincup         Ford     +   6.3947
 7.  Steven Johnson        Ford     +   6.9646
 8.  Cameron McConville    Holden   +   7.3975
 9.  Jason Richards        Holden   +   7.7918
10.  Greg Murphy           Holden   +   8.0583
11.  Lee Holdsworth        Holden   +   8.6749
12.  Andrew Jones          Holden   +   8.8250
13.  Craig Lowndes         Ford     +   9.0204
14.  Russell Ingall        Holden   +   9.3946
15.  Shane Van Gisbergen   Ford     +   9.4928
16.  Todd Kelly            Holden   +  10.1952
17.  Shane Price           Holden   +  11.5127
18.  Tony D'Alberto        Holden   +  12.0291
19.  Paul Dumbrell         Holden   +  12.2065
20.  Fabian Coulthard      Ford     +  12.4057
21.  Michael Patrizi       Ford     +  12.7831
22.  Andrew Thompson       Holden   +  13.8012
23.  Jason Bright          Ford     +  14.6502
24.  James Courtney        Ford     +  14.9044
25.  Michael Caruso        Holden   +  15.4333
26.  Marcus Marshall       Ford     +  22.1015

Not classified/retirements:

     Driver                Make     Laps
     Paul Morris           Holden     6
     Kayne Scott           Ford       5
     Steven Richards       Ford       0