FIVE-TIME Bathurst 1000 winner Garth Tander is ramping up preparations for his first Supercars enduro campaign with Grove Racing.
The 46-year-old will make a one-off appearance in Round 4 of Carrera Cup Australia later this month (August 18-20) at The Bend Motorsport Park, racing the Groves’ Porsche which will be prepared by Earl Bamber Motorsport.
Tander will carry the #87, also used by his son Sebastian in the Australian Karting Championship, on the SP Tools-backed entry.
Having won last year’s Great Race with Triple Eight’s Shane van Gisbergen, it’s not yet clear which of David Reynolds and Matt Payne that Tander will partner in the 2023 Sandown 500 and Repco Bathurst 1000.
“It’s important for Garth to have the opportunity to get some miles prior to the enduro rounds and Carrera Cup is the perfect platform,” said Stephen Grove.
“To have a driver of Garth Tander’s experience pilot a Grove Racing 992 Porsche Cup car at Tailem Bend is exciting for the whole team.”
Tander is looking forward to the opportunity, which is set to see him race against other Supercars co-drivers including Fabian Coulthard, Alex Davison, Dale Wood, David Russell and Dylan O’Keeffe.
“I have raced Carrera Cup in the Pro-Am event that they used to run back in 2016. Obviously doing a championship sprint round is a whole other deal, and I am under no illusion that it’s going to be incredibly tough,” said Tander.
“I know how tough the championship is and how strong the drivers are within the championship, so I know it’s going to be a steep learning curve, but I am really excited about that opportunity.
“Having SP Tools on the car is a great honour; I have a long-standing relationship with SP Tools and it is great to have them on the Porsche. They are great supporters of motorsport and I certainly hope to do them proud.
“Many thanks also to Stephen and Brenton Grove.
“Getting racing miles prior to Sandown and Bathurst is important and I can’t think of anything better to prepare me for those two Supercar endurance racing events than to jump into the middle of a very tough Carrera Cup championship right in the deep end and having a go, so thanks very much to them for giving me this chance.”
