Supercars legend Garth Tander will take part in the second round of the TCR Australia series at Phillip Island, racing an Audi RS3 LMS for the Melbourne Performance Centre outfit.
Tander, the 2007 Supercars champion and three-time Bathurst 1000 winner, will make his début in two-litre touring car racing in one of the MPC Audis.
The 42-year-old will combine his driving in TCR Australia with racing alongside Geoff Emery in the Audi Sport Team Valvoline R8 GT3 in the Australian GT Endurance Championship.
Tander is a household name in Australian motorsport, and the 42-year-old sits as the fourth most successful driver in terms of race wins in Supercars history.
“I’m looking forward to it,” said Tander. “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.
“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 for the Melbourne Performance Centre, explained that the team had tried to secure his services for the first round of the season two weeks’ ago.
“Garth is our first port of call anytime our team needs a driver,” said Russell. “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.
“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.”
The second round of the season takes place at Phillip Island next weekend (8-9 June).