Tander leads Holden's Bathurst 1-2-3

Holden drivers Garth Tander and Will Davison have won the Bathurst 1000, overcoming
a variety of weather conditions to win Australia's best-known V8 Supercar race.
Tander and Davison led for the majority of the 161-lap, 1,000km race around Mount
Panorama.
But they also had a late slice of luck when a safety car period with 20 laps
remaining elevated them from third to first as the two leading cars were forced to
pit and lose track position.
Tander and Davison led home a Holden 1-2-3.
Jason Richards and Cameron McConville finished second, with Lee Holdsworth and
Michael Caruso third.
It is Holden's first win at Bathurst since 2005 and breaks Ford duo Craig Lowndes
and Jamie Whincup's run of three successive victories.
Lowndes and Whincup finished fifth.
It is Tander's second triumph at Mt Panorama.
The 32-year-old also won the race in 2000.
It is 27-year-old Davison's first win at Bathurst.
The race changed complexion entirely with 20 laps to go.
Part-time Holden drivers Greg Ritter and David Besnard, and Holden veterans Mark
Skaife and Greg Murphy sat first and second and looked on track to fight out the
finish.
But Ford driver Dean Canto crashed on lap 141, bringing out the safety car and
giving a huge advantage to cars which had already made their final pit stops for
fuel.
That put Tander in the lead - an advantage he managed to hold despite another safety
car period with three laps remaining.
Tander had opened up a five second advantage which was erased after Tony
Ricciardello beached his car, setting up a three-lap sprint to the finish.
That led to plenty of action behind Tander, with Richards fighting his way up to
second and Holdsworth having to hold off a late-charging Murphy to keep a podium
finish.
Murphy and Skaife eventually finished fourth, with Ritter and Besnard sliding to ninth.
Tander and Davison started from pole in a race which started in the wet, had
intermittent showers throughout, and finished in bright sunshine.
That meant pit stop strategies, driver changes and changes of tyres were critical.
Tander and Davison's strategy turned out a winner - pitting just three laps before
the safety car period which changed the race proving an inspired move.
"It's absolutely awesome. Words can't describe it. What a result for the team -
absolutely fantastic," Tander said.
"What a race for Holden and what a way to come back.
"We had a really fast car and did a really good job in the pit stops."
Davison's win also helps his V8 Supercar championship aspirations.
It cuts the margin between second-placed Davison and series leader Whincup to 93
points.
Ford Performance Racing drivers Mark Winterbottom and Steven Richards were the
highest profile casualties, out in lap 50 when their car spectacularly caught fire
while on track.
Winterbottom was in the blazing car, which only made it part-way along pit lane
before stopping.
Rival team fire crews helped put out the blaze and escorted Winterbottom from the
car uninjured.
FPR said a battery which came loose and ruptured a fuel line was to blame for the
car's demise.
Nearly 180,000 attended the weekend's racing.