Tander closes in with race 1 win

Tander made up two places through turn one at the start, and moved up to second through the pit stop shuffle in the first half of the race. As the laps wound down he closed in on leader Mark Skaife, taking the lead relatively easily exiting Siberia on lap 20, going on to take the victory.

After qualifying second, Mark Skaife looked set to take the win in race one after clearing out on the rest of the field in the opening laps. But as the race wore on, his pace began to fall away, allowing Tander to demote him to second, still a good result.

Completing the podium in third was Jamie Whincup, who had an up and down race ahead of teammate Craig Lowndes, and the second Toll HSV car of Rick Kelly.

At the start, Tander led from Skaife, with Whincup holding on to third at the start, everyone gaining a place early on lap two when race leader Rick Kelly went off at the hairpin, Rick dropping to tenth.

In those early laps Whincup led a train of cars, including Todd Kelly, Garth Tander (who gained two places into Southern Loop on lap one) with Craig Lowndes at the tail of the group.

Kelly was the first to pit on lap 6, losing a place to Jason Richards in the process. Whincup pitted on the next lap, losing a place to both Richards and Kelly. Lap nine saw Skaife and Rick Kelly both pit, Skaife emerging just ahead of Jason Richards, his margin much reduced, while Rick Kelly gained ground.

Lap 10 saw Tander pit, gaining two places as he resumed between Skaife and Richards, while lap 12 saw Lowndes hit the pits, slotting in just behind teammate Whincup.

At the front Skaife and Tander drew away, Tander eventually catching and claiming Skaife. Behind them, a similar pack began to emerge, comprising of Jason Richards, Todd Kelly, Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes, with Rick Kelly a few seconds behind them after passing Ingall on lap 16.

At almost the same time as Skaife lost pace and then position to Tander, his teammate Todd Kelly's pace began to suffer similarly. Instead of challenging Richards for third, his major worry now was keeping Whincup behind him, the two nose-to-tail as they began lap 21.

This involved Kelly taking defensive lines, or 'blocking', several times, which is frowned upon in V8 Supercar except in the final two laps.

At other times in the race, drivers are given a bad sportsmanship flag for a first offence, and a drive-through penalty if they continue to 'block'.

Meanwhile Lowndes was now under pressure from Todd's brother Rick, Rick having caught the pack as the pace of his brother slowed down the two Team Vodafone Falcons back towards him.

This involved Lowndes having to take similar defensive lines several times, though at the same time he remained on his teammate Whincup's tail, waiting for a slip from either Todd Kelly or his own teammate.

As they began lap 24 there was news of a bad sportsmanship flag for blocking. It was for Craig Lowndes, for his efforts in keeping Rick Kelly behind. It followed a similar warning at the previous round in Tasmania for Marcus Marshall 'blocking' Tander in Tander's recovery in race two.

Remarkably, the car that was both looking to pass (teammate Whincup) and defend (against Rick Kelly) was warned, while a car which was only defending (to keep Whincup, and in turn Lowndes and his own brother Rick behind) was not warned for what appeared to be the same transgression.

Just seconds after Lowndes was warned, his teammate Whincup finally snuck ahead of Todd Kelly. As they entered Honda Hairpin Lowndes again moved to the inside as he moved right on to Todd Kelly's rear bumper.

Whether this was seen as another block or a dive to pass Kelly didn't really matter with what followed.

The duo exited the hairpin nose-to-tail. Into Siberia Kelly took his customary wide entry, allowing Lowndes to sneak up the inside. As they exited the corner, side-by-side, the two cars made contact, their front wheels seeming to interlock temporarily, sending both cars temporarily straight ahead.

While Lowndes managed to recover and take fourth, the tangle saw Todd Kelly end up on the grass and unhappy, dropping to seventh as brother Rick moved up to fifth.

From here the race settled back down to the chequered flag, apart from on lap 25 when third-placed Jason Richards went off at Southern Loop, dropping all the way down to 17th, benefitting all the front-runners except Skaife and in particular, leader Tander.

What this meant was at the end of the race, the title battle was now down to three. Rick Kelly's hopes ended on lap two, as he needed to beat Whincup and finish very close to Tander to remain in contention, Kelly now 52 points behind with only 48 remaining.

Lowndes also lost ground, now 23 points off the lead, which means he must beat both Whincup and Tander in race two. At the front, Tander and Whincup both have 586 points.

Remarkably, at this same round a year ago, Tander's teammate Rick Kelly and Whincup's teammate Craig Lowndes were in the same position, except with only one race remaining, instead of this year's two.

Last year's battle ended with a controversial finish, with the same two teams directly involved, and Holden Racing Team also involved in incidents with Lowndes a year ago (whose fault they were is a matter that probably depends on whether you support Ford or Holden).

Hopefully this year's title will not end in the same controversial circumstances, but all the right ingredients are there for a repeat. However, with pole position for race two, Tander is well-placed and only needs to stay up front and win tomorrow's two races to be assured of the title.

Conversely, all it needs is a small slip from Tander in either of Sunday's two races to see Whincup claim his maiden title. And with some of the strange things that have happened in recent rounds, even Lowndes, despite his points deficit, could be crowned champion tomorrow.

Pos  Driver                   Car
 1.  Garth Tander             Holden Commodore VE
 2.  Mark Skaife              Holden Commodore VE
 3.  Jamie Whincup            Ford Falcon BF
 4.  Craig Lowndes            Ford Falcon BF
 5.  Rick Kelly               Holden Commodore VE
 6.  Todd Kelly               Holden Commodore VE
 7.  Mark Winterbottom        Ford Falcon BF
 8.  Russell Ingall           Ford Falcon BF
 9.  Will Davison             Ford Falcon BF
10.  Greg Murphy              Holden Commodore VE
11.  Lee Holdsworth           Holden Commodore VE
12.  James Courtney           Ford Falcon BF
13.  Steven Johnson           Ford Falcon BF
14.  Shane van Gisbergen      Ford Falcon BF
15.  Cameron McConville       Holden Commodore VE
16.  Shane Price              Holden Commodore VE
17.  Jason Richards           Holden Commodore VE
18.  Steve Owen               Holden Commodore VZ
19.  Max Wilson               Ford Falcon BF
20.  Dean Canto               Holden Commodore VE
21.  Andrew Jones             Ford Falcon BF
22.  Marcus Marshall          Holden Commodore VE
23.  Jason Bargwanna          Ford Falcon BF
24.  Alan Gurr                Ford Falcon BF
25.  Paul Dumbrell            Holden Commodore VE
26.  Simon Wills              Ford Falcon BF
27.  Steven Richards          Ford Falcon BF
28.  John Bowe                Ford Falcon BF
DNF  Paul Morris              Holden Commodore VE
DNF  Owen Kelly               Holden Commodore VZ
DNF  Jason Bright             Ford Falcon BF