Tander takes title in tense finale

Tander ran up front throughout the race, taking fourth place following a tight battle with the two Vodafone Fords, the result enough for him to take the title by two points.

Having finished second in race two, Holden Racing Team's Todd Kelly took the win in race three, having taken the lead at the start. Second and third were the two Vodafone Fords of Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes, not doing quite enough for Whincup to take the title.

Tander, Kelly and Whincup filled out the overall podium for the round, Tander the best over the weekend at the same time he was crowned best over the year.

Tander finished the championship two points ahead of Whincup, with Lowndes in third, 33 points behind, and Rick Kelly fourth 73 points behind his teammate. Tander and Whincup both had strong weekends, and deservedly fought out the title.

At the start of the race Todd Kelly took the lead ahead of Tander, Whincup, Lowndes, Skaife and Winterbottom. In the early laps the gaps between the leaders opened up a little before Whincup began to drop away a little from Tander.

Whincup was the first to pit on lap 6, followed by Winterbottom on lap 7 and leader Kelly on lap 8, Whincup notably fast after his stop. Lap 9 saw Lowndes and Skaife pit, while lap 10 saw leader Tander take his pit stop.

Having been a place ahead of Whincup before the stop, staying out had cost Tander, and he resumed behind Whincup and ahead of Lowndes. In fact, Lowndes passed Tander at turn one after his pit stop, but in doing so, ran wide enough to allow Tander to move back ahead.

This began a thrilling battle between Whincup, Tander and Lowndes for the next 15 laps, Tander close to Whincup but not looking too hard to pass, while behind Tander Lowndes was looking left and right for a way past Tander.

Lap after lap the trio ran nose to tail, with a defensive more here and there from Tander balanced with an occasional small tap in his tail from Lowndes. Both drivers wanted to finish third, Tander to secure his title, Lowndes to do all he could to help teammate Whincup.

As the laps wound down, the title battle became more interesting as leader Todd Kelly began to fall into the clutches of the trio behind him, with the top four nose-to-tail by lap 22.

Finally there was a move on lap 25, Lowndes getting partly inside Tander in the middle of Siberia after Tander had taken a wide entry. As they exited the corner Tander continued to try to take take his line as Lowndes forced inside.

Tander saw it as a tap, while Lowndes probably felt he was not giving him the room he was entitled to. Regardless, Lowndes took the place, though not without Tander having a couple of lunges in the next couple of corners before settling for fourth.

From there the race settled down somewhat, Whincup doing his best to catch Kelly but unable to get close enough to make a pass. Lowndes and Tander remained safe in third and fourth, where they stayed to the chequered flag.

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