THE Holden Racing Team must return to its place as ‘The General’s’ standard bearer on the track, says the man charged with making it happen.

Reigning V8 Supercar champion Garth Tander said there was a powerful resolve at ‘Team Red’ to reclaim its number one place in the Holden pecking order, after being eclipsed by its stablemate – the HSV Dealer Team – for the past two seasons.

Ironically, Tander was one of the main reasons HRT had to play second fiddle on the track to its sister team in 2007, after the 30-year-old led the ‘second’ Clayton-based Commodore outfit to its second consecutive championship.

Now wearing a red corporate uniform rather than a black and orange one, Tander said there was an expectation HRT had to resume its place at the head of the pack.

"The feeling I get around this team is a steely determination," Tander said.

"This team wants to once again be a powerhouse in this sport."

The decision by Walkinshaw Performance, which manages both the Holden Racing Team and the HSV Dealer Team, to shift Tander to its A-team, is not the only change aimed at boosting the Holden flagship’s on-track performance. Rob Crawford and two of Tander’s engineers have also been commandeered from the HSV Dealer Team, strengthening HRT at the expense of its counterpart.

Tander said that had helped him feel at home at his new team.

"It’s a new team but a lot of the key personnel are still the same, so I don’t see [settling in] as a major problem," he explained.

"My preparation is exactly the same as last year. The idea is to keep everything as similar as possible.

"There’s more access to resources and more budget. I don’t feel I have a better opportunity to win the championship at this time in 2008 as I did at the same time in 2007. I’d say it is the same opportunity. But if you asked the other 32 guys on the grid they’d say the same thing.

"I think I have to top last year’s effort in order to win this year’s championship because, you have to remember I only won the championship by two points, and I don’t see anyone standing still."

Tander denied he felt added outside pressure to perform at the team regarded by some as ‘the’ factory Holden team, but admitted he had already noticed an increased workload in terms of corporate commitments and interest from fans.

Team owner Mark Skaife, now in his 12th year at HRT, said he welcomed the new rivalry within his team.

"It feels like when Craig Lowndes and I first raced together," Skaife said.

"I think Garth is now the benchmark within the sport. What’s also an advantage is, when we drove together in 2006, Garth and I liked to set the car similarly.

"At the end of 2008 I hope to be reflecting on a 1-2 result matching the numbers on the cars."

Tander will debut a new car (serial code VE007, representing the seventh VE Commodore built by the team) at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide, Skaife to drive the car he drove at Phillip Island last year (VE006).

HRT unveiled its new livery at Holden’s national headquarters at Port Melbourne, Holden executive director of sales and marketing Alan Batey re-affirming the company’s
commitment to using the sport as a key part of its advertising and marketing. The new look has more than a little hint of the legendary Holden Dealer Team cars of the ’70s.

The team also announced Glenn Seton and Craig Baird would be its endurance drivers again this year for the 500km endurance race (now at Phillip Island) and Bathurst 1000.

What was new is the prominent Toll sponsorship, the transport company now sponsoring the flagship Holden team in addition to the HSV team.

Rick Kelly has more incentive than ever to win in 2008. After all the HSVDT is the defending Teams champion. Challenging times The HSV Dealer Team is hungrier than ever NO team has more incentive to beat the Holden Racing Team this season than its less heralded but more successful stablemate. After all, HRT more or less poached the HSV Dealer Team’s championship-winning driver and its team manager over the summer. But, while a lot may have changed at HSV over the summer, according to Rick Kelly, the things that matter most haven’t. Dumbrell joins the team after a diappointing year at PWR. HSVDT is his best chance at establishing himself as a top flight driver. Kelly said there was a feeling that the ‘other’ Walkinshaw Performance team had been forgotten with Tander’s move to HRT, and that had given the HSV team plenty of motivation to keep beating the red team. "We’ve got more incentive than ever to beat HRT and I think we still have the ingredients to do it," Kelly said. "The reason this team has won the past two driver’s and team’s championships is because we’ve had the best guys in pit lane and they’re mostly still here. "A few people have left but [Kelly’s engineer] Eric Pender has stepped up into the team manager role, and that has allowed Alister McVean to step into the role of chief engineer for my car. That’s an exciting new challenge for them." Kelly said the changing of the guard represented a new challenge for him as well. He said he did not mind that the public eye had shifted to Tander and HRT. "It is a good thing for me. It allows me to get out of limelight and get down to the job of driving," the 25-year-old said. "When I won the championship no one thought about us winning until towards the end, and I think that suited me. "The changes give me an opportunity to lead a team. It’s a personal challenge. Garth at the moment is one of the best, if not the best in the pit lane. Being with him in the team was advantage because it really pushed me. I have to push myself now more than I have done." Another major change is the look of the second car, to be driven by Kelly’s new teammate Paul Dumbrell, which will run in Autobarn colours. Kelly said Dumbrell now had a real chance to stamp himself as a top driver. He also said the fact the two teams would have different colours would not impact on team spirit. "Last year we had two cars fighting each other for the championship and everyone got on really well. So it won’t matter what shirts they wear," he said. – Gavin McGrath