Roos, doors, Medical Cars: Tander recounts unlikeliest podium

Doors falling off, kangaroos playing chicken and a clash with the Medical Car.

What else could go wrong, yet still deliver a Bathurst podium?

That was the story of Garth Tander's Great Race in 2010, with the then Holden Racing Team star somehow recovering to the podium with Cameron McConville.

Of Tander's eight Great Race podiums, the third position in 2010 was surely his most bizarre and incident-packed, with his run concluding after a heartbreaking crash for teammate Will Davison.

Tander and Davison, who were both special guests on Supercars' Bathurst edition Drivers podcast, saw both sides of the dramatic race.

"I had to dodge Will crashing the car in front of me, we hit a kangaroo, the door fell off in the pit stop," Tander said.

"And early in the race, I was coming into pit lane, and you know you go through the chicane before the 40km/h line at Bathurst, and the medical centre's right there at pit entry?

"The Medical Car's come smoking out of the medical area and driven straight into the rear door of the race car when I'm coming into pit lane.

"I was on the radio, 'Guys, this is a measure of how good our day's going, the Medical Car's just hit us'.

"And somehow, we still ended up on the podium... maybe the Medical Car straightened up the steering for us."

Tander and Davison shared victory in 2009, before being split for 2010 with the new rules.

HRT arrived in Bathurst carrying a special retro livery, paying tribute to the team's 1990 success. However, for the Tander/McConville, it seemed anything but come race day.

Tander and McConville started fifth, and the Commodore clipped a kangaroo at The Cutting before a door fell off during a driver change.

Then, after an unthinkable run-in with the Medical Car, Tander had seen enough.

Through it all, Davison thought Tander was a lap down in the closing stages of the race, before HRT told him the 2007 champion was in fact racing for position.

"When Dave and Cam were in the car, I'm chatting to GT, who's having the day from hell," Davison said.

"You're like, 'The steering's bent, the thing's this, the thing's that'.

"Then towards the end, I'm in third chasing the leaders and Garth's behind me, and I'm like, 'Is Garth a lap behind?'

"And they're like, 'No, he's back in the race'. Garth's been telling me the thing's a lemon, the steering's bent, and I'm like, 'Jeepers, here we go'."

Tander will make his 26th Bathurst start, and Davison his 21st, when cars roll out across October 10-13.

Tickets for the upcoming Repco Bathurst 1000 are on sale now.