Why sixth win hits different for Tander
By Thomas Miles
Date posted: 17 October 2025
A sixth win has further pushed Garth Tander towards the top of the Bathurst greats, but there is a good reason why 2025 stands out.
Tander achieved his sixth Great Race glory alongside Matt Payne for Grove Racing on Sunday’s stunning Bathurst 1000.
It arrives a record quarter of a century after his first win back in 2000 alongside Jason Bargwanna.
The previous longest stretch was held by Jim Richards from 1978 to 2002.
The 2025 win arrived in eerily similar circumstances to 2000 when Tander drove underdogs Garry Rogers Motorsport to an unexpected win in the rain.
Since then Tander took two wins as a main driver for the factory Holden Racing Team in 2009 and 2011 and then alongside Shane van Gisbergen in 2020 and 2022.
But the reason why Tander feels fond about his latest success and first with Ford is more off track.
‘GT’ made the shock move from Triple Eight to Grove Racing in 2023 to be more than a co-driver, but a significant sounding board to help the Ford team rise from the midfield to the front of the grid.
“I am very proud of this team,” Tander said.
“I have probably had more to do with this team with the helmet off than on than any other team I have been involved with, so it is a very different and special feeling.
“A lot of people questioned why I would change from the team that is arguably the most dominant in Supercars.
“But the opportunity to be part of building something.
“What Stephen, Brenton and Tanya Grove have built, and everyone else at Penrite Racing felt I would be a good fit to grow the team and develop Matt and now Kai.
“This one is really cool.”
On Friday, Grove Racing appeared to be an unlikely contender for victory after Payne and Kai Allen qualified 18th and 21st, respectively.
Tander was full of credit of how the team rebounded from the early disappointment.
“We just focused on our own race cars team and strategy,” he said.
“I thought the team did an exceptional job post Friday qualifying where we did not have the speed we should have and that was through no fault of Matt and Kai.
“The team rebounded really well after a strong engineering meeting and the cars were much better in race trim on Saturday.
“At no point did the outside noise filter into our truck.”
In addition to the similarities of the weather, another massive moment gave Tander good reason to remember 2000.
An infamous clash between Mark Skaife, Niel Crompton and Matt Neal at Hell Corner, plus another incident for John Faulkner opened the door for Tander to take the win.
In 2025 it was a clash between James Golding and Cooper Murray that parted the seas for Payne and Tander.
“When I won in 2000 it was pretty wet and Tony Longhurst was leading with about 10-15 laps to go and he got collected John Faulkner, tearing the front end out, which opened the win for us,” Tander said.
“Bathurst can is a crazy place where it is never over until its over.
“When Jimmy and Cooper clashed and Matt snuck through to the lead, our whole garage erupted.
“I was running around saying anyone can go sideways here given the wet conditions.
“It was a tense final 10-15 minutes but that is Bathurst.
“I knew starting 18th it would be one of those days.”
Tander now stands on the podium of most Great Race wins with six alongside the likes of Larry Perkins and Skaife.
Image: Peter Norton Epic Sports Photography
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