A WIN FOR THE UNDERDOGS – 20 YEARS ON
By Bruce Williams
Date posted: 8 October 2020
A win for the underdogs – 20 years on
Bathurst 2000 will be remembered as a win for the underdogs as Garry Rogers Motorsport spearheaded by young guns Jason Bargwanna and Garth Tander greeted the chequered flag in a drama-filled event.
By DAN McCARTHY
It’s 20-years since Tander crossed the line to take arguably GRM‘s greatest victory and cemented the duo into the history books.
Not only was the 1000 victory on the line, but for the second year in a row the event played host to the title decider of which Tander was Mark Skaife’s only challenger.
“For us it was very simple, we had to win Bathurst to have any chance of winning the championship,” Tander recalled to Auto Action.
Arriving at Bathurst, a 209-point margin split the two series contenders, a then 23-year-old Tander and the privateer GRM outfit up against the might of the Holden Racing Team in its zenith.
But as so happens, The Mountain threw up many surprises, none more so than on Saturday when Wayne Gardner in the Ford Tickford Racing AU Falcon took pole position in the Top 10 Shootout.
This was down to the weather rather than the speed of the second FTR AU, which continued into race day.
“Thankfully Bargs started the race,” Tander said. “It was pouring down with rain at the start of the race.”
“I actually managed to dodge all the really wet parts on the race for whatever reason, I was in the car most of the time when it was dry and Bargs was in the car most of the time it was in the wet.
“That worked well for me, I was happy with that.”
Not only was the weather a concern, but lapped traffic caused havoc, which changed the nature of the race.
“That 2000 race, the drama that Neil Crompton, Mark Skaife and myself all found ourselves involved in, when we were lapping some traffic during the race.
“Obviously Neil and Mark got more caught up in it than I did, and I managed to dodge it. That really sort of set up the race for us as far as leaving us at the front.
Of course, that incident involving British Touring Car Championship driver Matt Neal at Hell Corner not only took the lead FTR AU Falcon shared by Neil Crompton and Glenn Seton out of the event, but critically delayed Skaife.
During the closing stages, Stone Brothers Racing’s Tony Longhurst appeared on course for victory, but he also collided with a lapped competitor at Forrest’s Elbow, which dropped him out of the event and Tander into the lead.
“Towards the end Tony Longhurst got me before he got involved with some lapped traffic and took himself out of the race, (Paul) Radisich was catching me at the end of the race but we managed to get to the line,” Tander recalled.
For Tander, it was a feeling of relief to finally accomplish a win in Australia’s biggest event after having to endure heartbreak the year before when GRM were widely acknowledged as a leading contender.
“It was one of those typical Bathursts that we’ve seen so many times over the years where there’s plenty of twists and turns throughout the 1000kms and eventually we came out on top at the end,” Tander said.
Victory at Bathurst capped off a breakthrough season for GRM as Tander won at Phillip Island and Adelaide, but fell short in toppling Skaife for the title.
“That (the win) was big,” Tander emphasised. “I mean, winning in 2000 driving the Commodore for GRM when we weren’t a factory team, that was big because it was the first time we won.”
Next week Tander will line-up with Red Bull Holden’s Shane Van Gisbergen in an attempt to claim his fourth Bathurst crown.
Pick up the latest Auto Action where the 2000 triumph is immortalised alongside Holden’s 32 wins at The Mountain in a double-sided poster honouring the marque’s last 1000 as a manufacturer.
Also make sure you follow us on social media Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or our weekly email newsletter for all the latest updates between issues.
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