Analysis: Tander a deserving champion

After two wins in the first two races and a seven point lead, it looked relatively comfortable. But a decision to stay out before pitting seemed to cost Tander, leading to a race-long fight with the two Vodafone Fords.

In the end, he finished that race fourth, behind Lowndes, but it was enough to crown him 2007 V8 Supercar champion by two points ahead of Team Vodafone's Jamie Whincup.

Tander's title follows on from his teammate Rick Kelly winning the title a year ago against Whincup's teammate Craig Lowndes, though the 2006 title battle ended in somewhat more controversial circumstances.

It also continues a streak of maiden V8 Supercar champions, with Russell Ingall in 2005 and Rick Kelly last year also winning their first title. In the end, this streak was certain to continue, with his rival in the final race Jamie Whincup also shooting for his first V8 Supercar title.

Two years in Formula Ford in 1996 and 1997 saw Tander emerge champion in his second year, moving on to occasional drives for Garry Rogers Motorsport in 1998 as he made his debut in the V8 Supercar series.

1999 saw him begin to make his mark on the series, taking his first race win at Calder having been denied a win earlier in the year at Queensland Raceway after a time penalty against another driver was applied, and then later overturned.

2000 was an impressive season, finishing second overall to Mark Skaife in the title in just his second full season. The season was topped off with victory in the final race of the year, the prestigious Bathurst 1000, a race that saw changing fortunes and weather on the way to victory.

After 2000, Tander's next four seasons were a disappointment. The fortunes of his team began to wane, with Tander finishing each season tenth or worse overall, only rarely even making it on to the podium.

Finally, in 2005 Tander moved to the HSV Dealer Team. Over the season he showed that he was still fast enough, and thanks to a strong finish to the season including domination in Tasmania, ended it sixth overall.

2006 saw another step up, and looked like another title challenge. Going into the two enduros at Sandown and Bathurst, Tander looked set for a title challenge.

But finishing 26th after mechanical problems while leading at Sandown, and a first lap exit after being on pole at Bathurst ended his title hopes, finishing the season fourth overall despite 7 race wins.

2007 saw a remarkable start to the season as he and his teammate Rick Kelly dominated the early races, winning 12 of the first 23 races between them, ten for Tander. As they entered the enduros, Tander led Kelly by 7 points, with their nearest rivals a round's worth of points behind or more.

But again the enduros did not favour Tander. While the two closest rivals to the Toll drivers, Team Vodafone's Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup completed a remarkable pair of victories at Sandown and Bathurst, Tander faired worse.

Fourth at Sandown was disappointing but not a disaster, but Bathurst was. Repeated brake problems for both Toll HSV cars at the Mountain saw both cars DNF. After leading the title fight before Sandown, he was now 27 points down on a driver he was 72 points ahead of just two rounds earlier.

But the concluding rounds saw the title fight swing wildly, even race-by-race, as each driver made mistakes or got caught up in incidents. In the end, it came down to a four-way fight at the final round, Tander trailing Whincup by 7 points.

Two wins in the first two races of the round seemed to have decided the matter in Tander's favour, but a tense final race made sure he had to fight for it, and so he did.

With 15 wins in 37 races, including two of the final three, Tander is a deserving V8 Supercar champion, his close calls in 2000 and 2006 not hurting as much as they would have if he had never achieved that title everyone aims and hoes for.