Tander wins race one at Hamilton

Tander ran in second for most of the first half of the race but looked set for victory thanks to a confusing opening to the race. Tander was followed closely home by HSV Dealer Team's Rick Kelly, pole man Steven Richards, Jeld-Wen Motorsport's James Courtney and Garry Rogers Motorsport's Lee Holdsworth.

At the start, there was contact before turn one, with Mark Winterbottom moving over on and making contact with Shane van Gisbergen just after the start. Then, as the field entered turn one, a concertina of cars ended with Mark Skaife being pushed into the back of Greg Murphy, who spun.

Having started seventh, Murphy was now at the back of the field. But just one corner there was even more carnage, as Russell Ingall dived inside Shane Price, Ingall deciding to take to the concrete inside the inside kerb before spearing into the middle of Steven Johnson's car.

Johnson's car was out on the spot, while Ingall limped back to the pits to retire. Other cars got caught up in the tangle, and Johnson's car still stuck on the track, the safety came out onto the circuit before the end of lap one.

However, it was a few seconds too late for race leader Steven Richards, who understeered wide at turn five in a very similarl manner to Todd Kelly in qualifying. However, unlike Kelly, Richards resumed safely and without drama, dropping to third position.

The race eventually restarted on lap six but was back under safety car conditions almost immediately as Michael Patrizi in the Ford Rising Start slammed into the wall at turn seven before he even reached the green flag to start lap six.

Almost the whole field pitted at the end of lap six for their compulsory stop, apart from Mark Skaife, Andrew Thompson and Kayne Scott. Thompson and Scott pitted a lap later, leaving Skaife in the lead ahead of Tander, Rick Kelly, Steven Richards and James Courtney as the race restarted on lap 10.

However, Skaife still had to make his compulsory pit stop, unlike everyone else in the field.

Craig Lowndes' bad day got worse, being given a drivethrough penalty for an unsafe release in pitlane where he made contact with Paul Morris. He then bounced off Murphy and spun soon after, while late in the race Lowndes had a front left tyre go flat.

At the front Skaife held a narrow lead over Tander and the following pack, going to lap 20 before making his pit stop. Despite staying out relatively long, he still dropped to 20th place.

The remainder of the race was relatively calm, apart from a flat tyre for Shane van Gisbergen that saw him fall from 9th to 21st within sight of the chequered flag.

Pos  Driver                Make     Time
 1.  Garth Tander          Holden   1:02:38.9460
 2.  Rick Kelly            Holden   +     1.1181
 3.  Steven Richards       Ford     +     1.5471
 4.  James Courtney        Ford     +     2.3582
 5.  Lee Holdsworth        Holden   +     3.1068
 6.  Cameron McConville    Holden   +     5.0157
 7.  Fabian Coulthard      Ford     +     8.8574
 8.  Todd Kelly            Holden   +    16.7070
 9.  Will Davison          Ford     +    21.3941
10.  Mark Winterbottom     Ford     +    22.4073
11.  Jason Bright          Ford     +    36.2026
12.  Michael Caruso        Holden   +    38.3309
13.  Tony D'Alberto        Holden   +    38.4985
14.  Paul Dumbrell         Holden   +    44.7644
15.  Andrew Thompson       Holden   +    44.9826
16.  Marcus Marshall       Ford     +    46.9233
17.  Kayne Scott           Ford     +    48.8021
18.  Mark Skaife           Holden   +    57.8929
19.  Craig Lowndes         Ford     +     1 lap
20.  Jason Richards        Holden   +     1 lap
21.  Shane Van Gisbergen   Ford     +     1 lap
22.  Andrew Jones          Holden   +     2 laps
23.  Greg Murphy           Holden   +     4 laps
24.  Paul Morris           Holden   +     8 laps

Not classified/retirements:

     Driver                Make     Laps
     Michael Patrizi       Ford       4
     Steven Johnson        Ford       1
     Shane Price           Holden     1
     Russell Ingall        Holden     1