R13 PREV (Part 2) - Unstable HRT in epic title tussle with Tander
15/11/2000 16:17 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) - Once again, the spiritual home of Australian Motorsport, Mt Panorama Bathurst, hosts the Shell Championship Series season finale in what has the makings of an epic title fight-to-the-death between two fierce Commodore combatants.
This year’s FAI 1000 pits two of Holden’s finest against each other – Mark Skaife, championship leader and part of the increasingly unstable Holden Racing Team garage, and Garth Tander, the young Valvoline-Cummins kid who finds himself going head-to-head with one of Supercars’ most experienced. Not forgetting a supporting cast of thousands. It promises much.
For the first time in many years, the Holden Racing Team is not on the first line of betting. Worse still, their long-held “favourites” tag has be handed to the arch enemy, Ford. Be that as it may, the Factory-backed operation is more than capable of taking out the race.
What can you say that hasn’t already been said about HRT. Super-quick, incredibly-reliable cars. Two of the most equipped drivers in the paddock (they have three Bathurst crowns between them). A team of finely-tuned, expertly-honed mechanics/crew. And a strategist that seems to always have the answers.
It’s a phenomenal, bullet-proof package. At least it was, until a few weeks ago when the harmony at HRT was shattered by the shock resignation of one Craig Lowndes.
All is not well at HRT, and with the added task of trying to win a Championship crown for Mark Skaife, the team certainly has a number of obstacles to overcome. Not that anyone is speaking publicly about the strain.
"A year's work is all but done, and you have to approach Bathurst with that in mind" Championship leader Mark Skaife said. "However, it would be very easy to undo everything we’ve achieved so far, in just one day.”
Skaife and Lowndes, reunited this year after being separated for the endurance events in ’99, need only finish 17th or better to wrap-up the Shell Series for Mark Skaife. Only before Skaife’s title is secure will the No. 1 Commodore push for race spoils.
“Craig (Lowndes) and I will do the best we can, without taking any undue risks and being mindful of the Championship situation. If the opportunity comes up where the Shell Series title is secure, then we can go all out for victory," Skaife explained.
Craig Lowndes, in his final race in HRT colours, has his own agenda.
"If the opportunity came up, I'd like to score maximum points and end up the year and my career with the Holden Racing Team with a win at Bathurst and second in the Series," Lowndes stated.
"Mark and I were split last year because of the Championship situation and decided at the start of 2000 that, irrespective of the Series, we wanted to drive together.”
“I can't wait to get back to Bathurst, as it's a unique experience and one that I enjoy. There's always a lot of pressure, but dealing with that is part of the exercise and you get used to it," Lowndes finished.
In the rival Valvoline-Cummins camp, title heir-apparent Garth Tander has made his strategists’ job painfully clear – simply, Tander, ably-supported by Jason Bargwanna, must win the event.
It is that single-minded attitude, to win Australia’s greatest race, that will drive Garth Tander and the Garry Rogers-led team this weekend.
"We are going to the mountain to win, simple as that,” Tander insists. “That's the part we can control. We can't control what happens to HRT so we will go for the win and see how the title pans out on the day," he said.
The lanky West Australian lurks 209 points behind Skaife which, with 240 SCS points on offer, is achievable. But, title or no title, Tander is confident the team can return home with the Bathurst trophy at the very least.
"We've had a nice quiet week getting ready. We had our last run in the car at Winton last Monday and I can say that it is considerably better than 1999 and we were considered one of the favourites then so we are more than capable of winning this year," 23-year-old Tander said.
One man who has every confidence in Tander is team-mate, Jason Bargwanna.
“I think Garth's a very smart guy. He's very strong. He's been at the top of the championship all year,” the effervescent Bargwanna told us recently.
The vertically-challenged Bargwanna, 28, shares Tander’s will to win.
“We are going to Bathurst to win Bathurst. If we win the championship, or if the team win the championship as well, that will be a bonus,” Bargwanna said.
“We're going there to win the race, and it's all stops out to try and win Bathurst, that's what our goal is to do. I think it'll be a fantastic event, we both want to win it, the whole team wants to win it. We'll wait and see,” he said.
Garry Rogers has paired youngsters Greg Ritter and Tim Leahey in the second Valvoline-Cummins Commodore.
Garry Dumbrell’s K-Mart campaigners, Greg Murphy and Steven Richards, won’t be competing for the Shell Championship, but are gunning for a place in history nonetheless.
The New Zealand-born pair will be listed among the sport’s all-time greats should they claim a third Bathurst crown this weekend.
Steven Richards is currently on a Bathurst hat-trick, and would become only the fourth driver in history (Peter Brock, Larry Perkins and father Jim Richards the others) to win three successive Mt Panorama titles.
If Richards is feeling the pressure, he’s not showing it. "I personally don’t feel any more pressure being defending race winners, because every year throws up a different set of challenges to deal with over the course of the race,” he said.
“Last year’s result holds absolutely no relevance to this year’s, so you have to go in with fresh thinking based on the experience of last year. If we have a good day, then we will be in the ball park," he said.
Richards doesn’t see taking an almost-virgin car to Bathurst as a concern.
“Building a new V8 Supercar and racing it straight away at a circuit like Bathurst is not a big deal these days because the base set up is the same as we’ve used and developed all year and our pit crews have reliability down pat," Richards said.
Murphy – who won his crowns in 1996 with the Holden Racing Team, and last year with K-Mart Racing – says the team is much better equipped for the gruelling 1000km marathon this year, despite their Surfers Paradise hiccup.
"The Kmart Racing Team is without doubt a lot better prepared than we were last year. The damage from the Indycar races certainly didn’t help things, but the team is on top of a lot more compared to this time in ‘99, so the damage is more like a small dent in our preparation rather than a large hole,” 28-year-old Murphy said.
Endurance specialists, Castrol Perkins Racing, are yet to record a DNF to their name at Bathurst, an enviable record the team are keen to maintain this year.
Larry Perkins and Russell Ingall share the lead car, as they have done since 1995, and will attempt to break an uncharacteristically-long, three-year drought at Mt Panorama.
The Holden Racing Team’s three-pronged attack on Bathurst also includes two foreigners – Jason Plato and Yvan Muller. The European Touring Car stars will share HRT’s second mount.
Despite limited experience in the muscular V8s, Muller (who will make his Bathurst debut) is unfazed.
"I think Jason (Plato) and I are old enough and have enough experience to be able to handle this race for the Holden Racing Team. We know what our job is, and that is to back up the efforts of Mark and Craig,” Muller said.
In the junior HRT machine, regular top ten competitor Todd Kelly will partner Nathan Pretty.
After coming ever-so-close to a podium finish at the Queensland 500, these Young Lions are ready to roar at Bathurst.
"After the Queensland 500 where Nathan (Pretty) and I were so close to a good result, we're confident we can compete at this level and I'm also looking forward to having a newer car to drive,” Kelly, the man favoured to replace Craig Lowndes, said.
“We're under no illusions or making any predictions about a result, but I'd love to be on the podium at Bathurst, and it's not out of the question," he said.
Seasoned campaigner Paul Morris, teaming with BTCC independent ace Matt Neal, should be watched with interest in their Big Kev-backed Commodore. As should the black and white Asia Online Holden of veteran John Faulkner and emerging talent Adam Macrow. All could surprise.
The Holdens will move mountains in their intense battle with Ford when the V8s hit the track for the first time tomorrow morning.
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