Holden Racing Team's Garth Tander took victory in the first race of this weekend's V8 Supercar event at Symmons Plains.

Tander led at the start and apart from a brief period after his pit stop led the whole way, holding off a late challenge from Russell Ingall as both drivers made their way through lapped traffic late in the race.

Steven Johnson finished the best-placed Ford in third position, while Tander's team-mate Will Davison's decision to pit at the end of lap one paid off, finishing fourth after starting 14th.

Jim Beam Racing's Todd Kelly finished fifth despite a bumping incident with James Courtney early in the race, which saw Kelly's car bump Courtney's car several times, almost putting Courtney off the road as he did so.

Courtney was forced to pit soon after with the right rear tire having come off the wheel, almost certainly as a result of Kelly's contact, the Jim Beam driver eventually finishing last two laps down.

The two Team Vodafone cars used different strategies but neither worked that well, Craig Lowndes moving up from ninth to seventh, while Jamie Whincup finished where he started in eighth but only after a few late passes.

As impressive as Davison's climb from 14th to fourth was, Cameron McConville's climb from last to 14th was probably even better.

What looked like a good result for Steven Richards turned sour in the closing laps, as it was discovered he had not quite put the mandatory 50 litres of fuel in at his pit stop.

Running fourth at the time, he dropped down the order to 15th at the end, still one place ahead of teammate Mark Winterbottom who had pit dramas of his own with a front-left wheelnut that didn't want to go on.

RESULTS:
Pos  Driver                Make                  Laps

 1.  Garth Tander          Holden Commodore VE    42

 2.  Russell Ingall        Holden Commodore VE    42

 3.  Steven Johnson        Ford Falcon FG         42

 4.  Will Davison          Holden Commodore VE    42

 5.  Todd Kelly            Holden Commodore VE    42

 6.  Shane Van Gisbergen   Ford Falcon FG         42

 7.  Craig Lowndes         Ford Falcon FG         42

 8.  Jamie Whincup         Ford Falcon FG         42

 9.  Greg Murphy           Holden Commodore VE    42

10.  Lee Holdsworth        Holden Commodore VE    42

11.  Rick Kelly            Holden Commodore VE    42

12.  Michael Caruso        Holden Commodore VE    42

13.  Cameron McConville    Holden Commodore VE    42

14.  Fabian Coulthard      Ford Falcon FG         42

15.  Steven Richards       Ford Falcon FG         42

16.  Mark Winterbottom     Ford Falcon FG         42

17.  Alex Davison          Ford Falcon FG         42

18.  Jason Richards        Holden Commodore VE    41

19.  Jason Bargwanna       Holden Commodore VE    41

20.  David Reynolds        Holden Commodore VE    41

21.  Jack Perkins          Holden Commodore VE    41

22.  Marcus Marshall       Ford Falcon BF         41

23.  Paul Dumbrell         Holden Commodore VE    41

24.  Tim Slade             Holden Commodore VE    41

25.  Tony D'Alberto        Holden Commodore VE    41

26.  Jason Bright          Ford Falcon BF         41

27.  Michael Patrizi       Ford Falcon BF         40

28.  Dale Wood             Holden Commodore VE    40

29.  Dean Fiore            Holden Commodore VE    40

30.  James Courtney        Ford Falcon FG         40