MATT Payne and Garth Tander have been reunited with the Supercar that powered them to victory in the 2025 Repco Bathurst 1000.
The parties were brought together at a special function last night, the occasion being a Penrite gala celebrating the company’s centenary at the Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton.
Chassis GR-01 was retired at the end of last season and restored to the condition in which it conquered the Mountain.
That represented Ford’s first Great Race win of the Gen3 era, and first since Scott McLaughlin and Alex Premat’s 2019 triumph for DJR Team Penske.
Also on display last night was GR-03, and a replica of the Penrite-backed Erebus Motorsport Holden Commodore behind David Reynolds and Luke Youlden’s 2017 Bathurst 1000 win.
Pic: Supplied
Reynolds/Youlden got the job done in EMH01, which met a brutal end to its racing days thanks to a heavy Anton De Pasquale crash at the 2019 edition of the Mount Panorama classic.
GR-03 meanwhile is Grove Racing’s current spare car; it powered Kai Allen to his maiden main game race win earlier this year at Ruapuna, before the young gun was granted some brand-new metal for Darwin onwards.
Payne, Tander, Reynolds and Allen were all in attendance at the gala.
The Groves lead both the drivers’ and teams’ championship standings heading into this year’s Bathurst 1000, where Payne will be joined by Will Davison following Tander’s decision to hang up the helmet.
