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Garth Tander to race brand-new Audi TCR at Phillip Island
Champion touring car ace Garth Tander will compete in Round 2 of the carsales TCR Australia Series at Phillip Island this weekend.
The Victorian, who has won every major Australian motorsport championship and trophy worth winning, will drive one of the brand-new Audi RS 3 LMS TCR cars at the famous Island circuit for the Melbourne Performance Centre team.
The drivers of the other two Audis from the MPC fleet are yet to be confirmed.
Tander is part of Australian motorsport royalty, having won the Bathurst 1000 three-times, a Supercars Championship (2007) and the Bathurst 24 Hour endurance race. He also sits fourth on the all-time list of Supercars Championship race wins.
This will not only be Tander’s first drive of a under 2-litre turbo-charged TCR car, it will also be the very first time that he has ever raced a front-wheel driver race car.
Tander won’t be lacking for race laps at the Island this weekend either. The 42-year-old will complete double duties, driving alongside Geoff Emery in the Audi Sport Team Valvoline R8 GT3 in the Australian GT Endurance Championship.
The two new Audis will mean there are now three Audis in the TCR Australia field, joining other car brands like Alfa Romeo, Honda, Holden, Hyundai, Renault, Subaru and Volkswagen in the new-to-Australia hot hatch touring car class.
All three TCR races which will be broadcast live, free and in HD on SBS, as well as the livestream coverage on the TCR Australia and the TCR-Series.com websites.
Hyundai driver Will Brown leads the series, with the Alfa Romeo of Dylan O’Keeffe and Tony D’Alberto’s Honda close behind.
CLICK HERE to secure your tickets to Phillip Island’s TCR Australia debut. http://bit.ly/2WlXWHZ
Garth Tander
Driver, Melbourne Performance Centre Audi
“I’m looking forward to it. I was a keen observer of the first round in Sydney, so to get my opportunity to drive a brand new Audi at Phillip Island is fantastic,” said Garth Tander.
“It will be different to drive than anything I’ve done before so it will be a challenge to get my head around it.
“I’ve never raced a front wheel drive car before. That will be the main thing to get across, but looking at the racing in Sydney, it looked exciting, challenging, and the guys out there are fast and switched on. Drivers like Will Brown, Tony D’Alberto and Jason Bright have have a full race weekend head start on me. I have a bit of catching up to do but I’m up for it.”
Troy Russell
Managing Director, Melbourne Performance Centre
“Garth is our first port of call anytime our team needs a driver. We tried to get him for Sydney but things didn’t work. We are rapt that he’ll be in our car for Phillip Island,” said Troy Russell.
“He is the ultimate professional – both in and out of the car. He won’t have driven the car prior to Phillip Island, but knowing Garth, it won’t take him long to get his head around it and get on the pace.
“He is also racing the Audi R8 in the Australian GT races too, so he won’t be lacking for race miller over the weekend.”