HRT Race Highlights:
• POLE POSITION AND AND A PODIUM FINISH FOR TANDER
• Both HRT cars qualified strongly and made the Top Ten Shootout. Tander went on to take out pole position and started at the front of the grid for the final Sydney 500 race. Courtney started 3rd.
• Tander was impressive off the start line and immediately pulled a gap between him and the rest of the field. He had more than a one second lead by the end of the first lap. Meanwhile Courtney dropped one place to 4th.
• By lap 10 Van Gisbergen had made up some ground and was within striking distance to pass.
• Car #22 was the first HRT car, and one of the first cars in the race, to pit for tyres and fuel; this happened on lap 12.
• Van Gisbergen and Tander had been battling for much of the opening stages of the race and on lap 20 Van Gisbergen took the lead of the race from Tander.
• Car #2 ran a similar strategy to yesterday and ran a long first stint, not pitting until lap 24. There was a controversial release in pit lane by Van Gisbergen’s crew, which saw him make contact with Tander at the exit of pit lane. It was investigated by the stewards but they found there had been no breach of the rules.
• Once the first round of stops was completed, Courtney found himself in control of the race and Tander was in 3rd position.
• On lap 40 Courtney was called in for his second and final stop of the race. A safety car was called, just as he left pit lane, for debris left on the track from a crash involving two cars at turn eight. Tander took advantage of this and made his second stop.
• At the restart Tander was 2nd and Courtney 4th and from there it was a 30-lap race to the finish line.
• A third safety car was called on lap 47 when Bright hit the wall and ended up stranded down an escape route.
• With 12 laps remaining Whincup was looking for a way past Courtney. Courtney ran wide and opened the door for Whincup and McLaughlin to pass. Courtney dropped to 6th. Tander and Van Gisbergen were still battling for the lead and there was just 0.4 seconds separating them.
• With nine laps to go, a final safety car was called when car #15 stopped on the track then rolled at a snail’s pace back to pit lane.
• The restart came with six laps to go and while Tander tried to match the pace of Van Gisbergen, he couldn’t and crossed the finish line in 2nd place.
• A deflating tyre on car #22 saw Courtney slow for the final few laps, but he still managed to hold on and finish in 6th place.
• The race was time certain and was reduced to 73 laps.
• To top off the final weekend of racing for HRT, Courtney clocked the fastest lap time of the race: 1.28.1700 on lap 14.
The 2016 Supercars Championship has come to end and the Holden Racing Team would like to thank all its sponsors and supporters for their unwavering backing throughout the year, and over the last 26 years.
Garth Tander, #2 Holden VF Commodore:
“I had a good start today’s race and had a good first couple of laps. I struggled with the balance of the car in the second half of that first stint where Shane caught me, and I just let him go because there was no point trying to battle him at that stage of the race.”
“Then as the race went on and we made some changes during the pit stops the car got better and better, but we still just didn’t have enough speed to go with Shane. Obviously I’m really happy with second, particularly after pole this morning. It wasn’t quite the perfect way to finish my chapter at HRT but certainly wasn’t far off. I’m happy with the performance, happy with the result, and looking forward to the future.”
James Courtney, #22 Holden VF Commodore:
“We qualified well today and it was good to make the shootout. In the race, I didn’t get the best of starts and dropped back one place. Then in the last few laps of the race I had a deflating tyre, so I just had to slow and nurse that home.”
“It was another great result for GT today and a really nice way for him to finish the year and finish with the team. I’m now looking forward to a good holiday before we come back next year and do it all again.”
