Garry Rogers Motorsport is an Australian motor racing team. It is owned by retired racing driver Garry Rogers who began the team to further his own racing efforts. Based in Melbourne, originally out of a Nissan dealership owned by Rogers, the team has competed in a variety of touring car series in Australia ranging from relatively modest Nissan production cars to Chevrolet NASCARs to building the GT specification Holden Monaro 427C. The team won the

Bathurst 1000 The Bathurst 1000 (formally known as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supercars Championship, the most rece ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

and also won both of the Bathurst 24 Hour races which were held in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

and

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...

. In 2013 the team celebrated its 50th year in racing since Rogers made his debut. Rogers has been famed as a talent spotter with a number of drivers finding their feet within GRM, including

Steven Richards Steven James Richards (born 11 July 1972) is a New Zealand-Australian racing driver, currently competing in the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Championship. Richards, the son of seven-time Bathurst 1000 winner Jim Richards, is himself a five- ...

, Jason Bargwanna, Garth Tander, Jamie Whincup, Lee Holdsworth and Scott McLaughlin. Many of these drivers became future champions and Bathurst 1000 winners. The team competed in the 2019 TCR Australia Touring Car Series with two Renault Mégane R.S TCR and an Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR. They will enter the 2020 season as Renault Sport GRM, after being sponsored by Renault Australia, in which they will run three Renault Mégane R.S TCRs. In 2018, Gary Rogers Motorsport built the first batch of S5000 single-seater race cars as apart of a partnership with the newly created S5000 Australian Drivers' Championship race category.

The early years

Garry Rogers Motorsport has its origins in 1963 when Garry Rogers began racing Appendix J Holdens. He then went on to race Sports Sedans during the late 1960s and the 1970s. In the mid-1970s Rogers got more serious, running a BDA Escort in Sports Sedans with some success, before moving onto an ex- Ian Geoghegan Holden Monaro. Around this time, in late 1978, Rogers also moved into the

Australian Touring Car Championship The Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) is a touring car racing award held in Australia since 1960. The series itself is no longer contested, but the title lives on, with the winner of the Repco Supercars Championship awarded the trophy ...

as a privateer in an ex- Bob Jane

Holden Torana The Holden Torana is a mid-sized car that was manufactured by Holden from 1967 to 1980. The name apparently comes from an word meaning "to fly" in an unconfirmed Aboriginal Australian language. The original HB series Torana was released in 19 ...

. He ran through until the end of 1979 in touring cars before turning his attention back to Sports Sedans, putting in a big effort in the 1981 Australian Sports Sedan Championship driving a Holden Torana LX SS A9X Hatchback. The team disbanded while Rogers concentrated on his Nissan dealership and he drove for other teams at the

, including Allan Browne's Re-Car team in

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C ...

paired with Ron Wanless (who famously drove the Commodore the wrong direction through pit lane without incurring a penalty). Rogers was a top 10 qualifier at Bathurst in 1983, partnering Clive Benson-Brown to a 13th-place finish after suffering brake problems, while in 1984 he drove with Melbourne's motor racing 'Gentleman', Captain Peter Janson in the Castrol 500 at Sandown, and the James Hardie 1000 at Bathurst in Janson's Commodore. The car failed to finish both endurance races. As Australian touring car racing went to regulations based on FIA Group A from

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, Rogers once again only drove at Sandown and Bathurst, teaming with Melbourne solicitor Jim Keogh in Keogh's ex-

JPS Team BMW JPS Team BMW is a former Australian motor racing team that ran from 1981–1987. The team's main focus was touring car racing but also ran in sports sedans and GT cars as well. The team, under the management of former British Touring Car Cham ...

635 CSi. After not finishing at Sandown, the pair finished 6th outright at Bathurst, 4 laps behind the TWR

Jaguar XJS The Jaguar XJ-S (later called XJS) is a luxury grand tourer manufactured and marketed by British car manufacturer Jaguar Cars from 1975 to 1996, in coupé, fixed-profile and full convertible bodystyles. There were three distinct iterations, ...

of John Goss and Armin Hahne. GRM re-emerged in 1986 when he purchased a BMW 635 CSi from JPS Team BMW and drove it throughout that year's touring car season. The year included a win in one of the AMSCAR Series races at Amaroo Park. Rogers BMW carried sponsorship from Bob Jane T-Marts, with the car painted in Bob Jane's famous Hugger Orange. At the

1986 James Hardie 1000 The 1986 James Hardie 1000 was an endurance motor race held on 5 October 1986 at the Mount Panorama Circuit, just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia. The race, which was the 27th running of the Bathurst 1000 touring car race, was ...

, Rogers teamed with Queenslander

Charlie O'Brien Charles Hugh O'Brien (born May 1, 1960) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Oakland Athletics (1985), Milwaukee Brewers (1987–90), New York Mets (1990–93), Atlanta Brave ...

. After qualifying 22nd, O'Brien started the race, but the car was struck down by a slipping clutch which led to its retirement after just 19 laps with Rogers not actually getting to drive. After spending 1987 on ice, the team came back in late-1988 with a Les Small (

Roadways Racing Roadways Racing was an Australian motor racing team that competed in Australian Touring Car racing in the 1980s. It also competed in the 1986 European Touring Car Championship. Roadways Racing Roadways Racing’s origins can be traced back to ...

) prepared, but unsponsored

Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV The Holden Commodore (VL) is a mid-size car that was produced by Holden from 1986 to 1988. It was the final iteration of the first generation of the Holden Commodore and included the luxury variant, Holden Calais (VL). Between February 1986 and ...

at the Tooheys 1000, sharing the drive with

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

John Andretti, the nephew of motor racing legend Mario Andretti. Rogers had originally wanted Mario to drive with him at Bathurst, hoping his high-profile would help land a major sponsor, but the

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

was unavailable and suggested his nephew as a replacement. Unfortunately though, the younger Andretti was recovering from a broken leg (he still needed crutches outside of the car), continued the tradition of American drivers not having a good Bathurst record and on lap 37 put the Commodore into the wall at Reid Park. To his credit Andretti admitted the accident was caused by driver error, going too fast, too soon, on cold tyres. The Commodore was also run in selected (mostly Victorian based) rounds throughout the

1989 Australian Touring Car Championship The 1989 Australian Touring Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing title open to Group 3A Touring Cars.''Australian Title Conditions'', 1989 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 75 The championship, which was the 30th Aust ...

. For the 1989 Bathurst 1000, Rogers accepted an offer to drive Colin Bond's Caltex CXT Race Team's second Ford Sierra RS500 with Ken Mathews (the car was the Sierra that Tony Longhurst and

Tomas Mezera Tomas Mezera (born 5 November 1958 in Czechoslovakia) is a naturalised Australian racing driver. Mezera won the 1988 Bathurst 1000, and for many years was a member of the Holden Racing Team as both a driver and team manager. Mezera's sporting ...

had driven to victory the 1988 race). Rogers and Mathews failed to finish the race. In the early 1990s GRM turned its attention to the Calder Park Thunderdome and the AUSCAR series running a variety of

Ford Falcon Ford Falcon is an automobile nameplate applied to several vehicles worldwide. * Ford Falcon (North America), an automobile produced by Ford from 1960 to 1970. * Ford Falcon (Argentina), a car built by Ford Argentina from 1962 until 1991. * For ...

s during the category's heyday (during the 1990s AUSCAR fields were dominated by the

Holden Commodore The Holden Commodore is a full-size car that was sold by Holden from 1978 to 2020. It was manufactured from 1978 to 2017 in Australia and from 1979 to 1990 in New Zealand, with production of the locally manufactured versions in Australia endi ...

). At first, Rogers drove the car himself alongside Paul Fordham. Garry slowly eased himself out of regular driving, putting

in the seat. The team also secured a major sponsor in Valvoline along the way. In this time the team also competed in Production Car racing at events such as the Winton 300 and

Bathurst 12 Hour The Bathurst 12 Hour, currently known as the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour for sponsorship reasons, is an annual endurance race for GT and production cars held at the Mount Panorama Circuit, in Bathurst, Australia. The race was first held in 1 ...

. The team used a Nissan Pulsar and a 300ZX due to Rogers' links with Nissan (he owns a Nissan dealership in Melbourne). Rogers also ran and then assisted Formula Ford teams during the 1990s, helping title sponsor Valvoline's promotion of Australian motorsport, as well as helping drivers such as Steven Richards and Garth Tander.

Super Touring

GRM joined the fledgling

Australian Super Touring Championship The Australian Super Touring Championship (formerly known as the Australian 2.0 Litre Touring Car Championship) was a CAMS-sanctioned national motor racing title for Super Touring Cars. History Super Touring was introduced into Australia in 1993 ...

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

with young lead driver

driving the team's Alfa Romeo 155. Quickly Richards was established as one of the series leading privateers, finishing ninth in the burgeoning championship. In 1995 the team replaced the Alfa with a

Honda Accord The , also known as the in Japan and China for certain generations, is a series of cars manufactured by Honda since 1976, best known for its four-door sedan variant, which has been one of the best-selling cars in the United States since 1989. ...

and Richards used it to win the Privateers Cup and place fifth in the championship behind the two factory supported BMW and Audi drivers. The team continued into 1996, replacing the Honda with a

Nissan Primera The is a large family car which was produced by the Japanese automaker Nissan from 1990 to 2007, for the markets in Japan and Europe. In Japan, it replaced the Auster/Stanza, and was exclusive to '' Nissan Prince Store'' locations. In North Am ...

but the team's form slipped, distracted by their new V8 Supercar and Richards finished seventh, losing the Privateers Cup to Cameron McLean.

Supercars Championship

1990s

Garry Rogers Motorsport joined the

in 1996 with Richards a driving a Holden VS Commodore sourced from

Gibson Motorsport Gibson Motorsport was an Australian motor racing team that competed in the Australian Touring Car Championship from 1981 until 2003, though the team had its roots in Gibson's "Road & Track" team which ran a series of Ford Falcon GTHOs in Serie ...

. The team expanded to two cars in 1998, with Jason Bargwanna driving the second car. Richards went to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

for a test drive with the

Nissan , trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the Nissan, Infiniti, and Datsun bra ...

team in the

British Touring Car Championship The Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by TOCA. It was established in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship and was renamed a ...

and was replaced by 1997

Australian Formula Ford The Australian Formula Ford Championship is an Australian motor racing competition for drivers of Formula Ford racing cars, held annually since 1970. From 1970 until 1992 it was a national series and from 1993 until 2013 the series was sanction ...

champion Garth Tander. Bargwanna scored the team's first race win at Calder that year, also finishing second for the round. Tander scored the team's first round win in 1999 at Queensland Raceway and he and Bargwanna finished second in the

Queensland 500 The Queensland 500 was a motorsport endurance race held at Queensland Raceway near Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. It was best known as a V8 Supercars race held from 1999 to 2002. It was also very famous for The Ford AU Falcon taking two of it ...

in the same year.

2000s

The 2000 season remains the team's most successful season to date. Tander won three rounds (including the

with Bargwanna) and finished runner-up to Mark Skaife in the title. Tander led the series early in the season but a couple of bad rounds in the middle of the season allowed Skaife to take the championship lead. Compared to 2000, 2001 was a poor season for the team, with Tander and Bargwanna finishing tenth and fifteenth in the points respectively and a best finish of second for Tander in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

. Bargwanna took his final win for the team at Surfers Paradise in 2002 before switching to Larkham Motor Sport for the 2003 season. He was replaced by 2002 Australian Formula Ford champion Jamie Whincup. GRM was one of the first teams to use the

Holden VY Commodore The Holden Commodore (VY) is an executive car that was produced by Holden from 2002 to 2004. It was the third iteration of the third generation of the Commodore. Its range included the luxury variants, Holden Berlina (VY) and Holden Calais (VY) ...

for the 2003 season, with Tander driving the new model car. Whincup would drive an older model VX Commodore. Whincup was sacked at the end of the season and was replaced by

Cameron McConville Cameron 'Conkers' McConville (born 22 January 1974) is an Australian racing driver and motorsport celebrity. While retired from full-time competition, McConville still races occasionally and is an in-demand endurance event co-driver. McConville ...

for 2004. McConville took the team's first round win in two years in controversial circumstances at Winton when he passed Rick Kelly on the second last corner of the race just after the end of a yellow flag zone. Tander left the team at the end of 2004 for what was then called Kmart Racing and was replaced by Andrew Jones. Jones was sacked after Bathurst and was replaced by

Dean Canto Dean Justin Canto (born 24 September 1980) is a multiple-championship winning Australian motor racing driver. Best noted as a Supercars driver, Canto was the inaugural winner of the second-tier V8 Supercar development series in 2000, and the fir ...

for two of the final three rounds of 2005 and the 2006 season. Lee Holdsworth also joined the team in 2006, as well as driving in the final round of 2005, with McConville moving to Paul Weel Racing. The team scored one race win in 2006 with Canto winning the reverse grid race at Barbagallo after

Team Kiwi Racing Team Kiwi Racing is a racing team that previously competed in the Australian V8 Supercar series, the Australian Carrera Cup Series, The New Zealand 2.0ltr Touring Car Championship, The NZV8 Championship and BMW Championship Series. The team has s ...

driver Paul Radisich spun off the track at the last corner. 2007 saw the team's first major livery change since joining the sport, with the traditional blue, white and red replaced by black, silver and red. Major sponsor Repco also left the team. Holdsworth and Canto remained with the team with Canto driving a new

Holden VE Commodore The Holden Commodore (VE) is an executive car that was produced by Holden from 2006 to 2013. It was the first iteration of the fourth generation of the Holden Commodore, Commodore. Its range included the luxury variants, Holden Berlina (VE) and ...

. Holdsworth remained in a VZ Commodore until the Queensland Raceway round. Holdsworth was involved in a serious crash in Round 4 at Winton when his car slid off the circuit and went backwards into the wall at high speed. Holdsworth rebounded quickly to score his maiden V8 Supercar round win at

Oran Park Raceway Oran Park Raceway was a motor racing circuit at Narellan south west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia which was operational from February 1962 until its closure in January 2010. The track was designed and started by George Murray and Ja ...

. After qualifying a career best fourth, Holdsworth dominated the final race of the weekend in very wet weather after a good strategy call from the team at the start of the race. Holdsworth was commended for his composure during the race while other, more experienced drivers made errors. Michael Caruso joined the team for 2008, replacing Canto. No wins came for the team in this season, however Holdsworth finished second at the Clipsal 500 and he and Caruso finished fifth at the L&H 500. Caruso won his first race in 2009, holding off a late race charge from Alex Davison in the Sunday race at Hidden Valley. Holdsworth was again on the podium at the Clipsal 500, finishing second in the Saturday race. The team also achieved a podium at Bathurst, with Holdsworth and Caruso finishing third. The second car of Greg Ritter and David Besnard looked like being in a position to win the race in the closing stages before a poorly timed safety car meant that they only finished ninth.

2010s

Holden VE Commodore of Michael Caruso 2012

2010 saw the team's major sponsor change from Valvoline to Fujitsu with the livery changing in accordance, to red and white separated by black lines. The Clipsal 500 saw Holdsworth finish on the podium at the event for the third year in a row, Holdsworth taking third place on Sunday. The team came very close to winning the

, with Holdsworth and Besnard leading the majority of the race. A drive-through penalty for speeding in pit lane with thirty laps to go meant that the pair would only finish in seventh place, while Caruso and Ritter finished tenth. Holdsworth won the final race of the year at the Sydney 500 after taking both pole positions for the event. Holdsworth and Caruso remained with the team in 2011 for their fourth consecutive season at teammates. The team was only able to achieve three podium results, with Holdsworth finishing second at

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilto ...

and at Winton and third at the 2011 Gold Coast 600, driving with Frenchman Simon Pagenaud. Caruso achieved a best result of fourth at the Sydney 500. Holdsworth left the team to join

Stone Brothers Racing Stone Brothers Racing (SBR) was an Australian motor racing team that competed in the International V8 Supercars Championship between 1998 and 2012. The team was formed in 1998 when Ross and Jim Stone bought Alan Jones's shares in Alan Jones ...

in 2012 and he was replaced by French driver Alexandre Prémat, while Caruso entered his fifth season with the team. The team struggled to find pace during the year, with a best result of fourth for Caruso at Hidden Valley, while Prémat struggled for most of the season. Prémat showed good pace at the Sydney 500, however, before retiring from the Saturday race with heat exhaustion. He was unable to take part in the Sunday race and was replaced by Development Series champion Scott McLaughlin. For 2013, McLaughlin was signed to drive for the team full-time alongside Prémat, with Caruso moving to

Nissan Motorsport , abbreviated as Nismo, is a division of Nissan Motorsports & Customizing focused in motorsport and performance-oriented car models for Nissan. Nismo was initially a company, , formed in 1984 as a result of a merger of two motorsport departmen ...

. Under the new New Generation V8 Supercar regulations, the team performed strongly at the start of the year with Prémat and McLaughlin finishing fourth and sixth respectively in the first race of the season at the Clipsal 500. McLaughlin went on to finish in the top ten in the first six races, becoming the youngest ever V8 Supercar race winner when he took victory at Pukekohe. However, his fortunes changed following this victory, only taking three top ten finishes in the next fifteen races. Queensland Raceway saw a return to form, with McLaughlin taking a second place and a victory. He was on track for another podium in the final race before a tyre failure dropped him down the field. Both cars finished in the top ten at the Sandown 500, with McLaughlin and Jack Perkins finishing eighth and Prémat and Greg Ritter finishing tenth. McLaughlin finished the year tenth in the points standings while Prémat finished in nineteenth.

Volvo

Scott McLaughlin 2014 Sydney Motorsport Park 400

In June 2013 it had been announced that the team would switch to running the Volvo S60 for the 2014 season, in a collaboration with Volvo Cars and Polestar Racing. As a result of the Swedish manufacturer's involvement, Prémat was dropped in favour of Swedish driver Robert Dahlgren. While Dahlgren largely struggled, McLaughlin achieved considerable success, winning four races and the 2014 Plus Fitness Phillip Island 400 event on the way to finishing fifth in the championship. In 2015, the second car was driven by David Wall and in 2016 by James Moffat. In 2015, Polestar was split in half and GRM no longer had an association with the Polestar brand as of 2016. In 2016 the team however did feature branding of Cyan Racing, the new name for the former racing arm of Polestar, and Volvo Dealer Racing. It was then announced that the team's association with Volvo would end at the conclusion of the 2016 season, with the cars and engines to be returned to Sweden. On track, after a winless 2015 the team returned to form at the 2016 WD-40 Phillip Island SuperSprint with McLaughlin winning both races over the weekend, and ultimately finishing 3rd in the drivers' championship.

Return to Holden

Holden Commodore ZB of James Golding (2018)

In January 2017, it was announced that the team would return to running Holden Commodores, after Volvo withdrew from the series. Garth Tander, who was with the team from 1998 to 2004, returned to the team to replace Scott McLaughlin, who left the team to join DJR Team Penske. The team only scored a single podium at Phillip Island, with Tander, as well as adding James Golding as a wildcard throughout the year. Moffat left the team at the end of 2017 and was replaced by Golding. In 2018, they ran ZB Commodores, replacing the preceding VF Commodores. The team also scored a single podium at Melbourne, with Tander. At the end of the 2018 season, their main sponsor, Wilson Security, withdrew sponsorship and was replaced with Boost Mobile. Garth Tander was also dropped from the team and was replaced with Richie Stanaway. No podiums came from the team as Stanaway was forced to withdraw from the last race at Winton to Queensland Raceway, due to a pre-existing neck injury sustained in a Formula 3 accident years ago, with Chris Pither for Winton and Darwin while Michael Caruso made a one-off return to the team at Queensland Raceway.

Withdrawal from Supercars

In mid October 2019, Garry Rogers announced that they won't be returning to the Supercars grid for the 2020 season, citing escalating costs of competing and a model that required them to purchase parts rather than develop them as the reasons for his decision to withdraw from the series. At the end of the season, Richie Stanaway announced his retirement from motorsport altogether and James Golding went to Charlie Schwerkolt Racing for the Enduro Cup.

Results

Car No. 33 results

Car No. 34 results

TCR Australia

In 2019, the team entered into the

TCR Australia Touring Car Series The TCR Australia Touring Car Series is a touring car racing series based in Australia. The series is run as part of the Shannons Nationals series. Background The TCR Touring Car formula, introduced in 2014, is based on four or five door fron ...

, entering in a single Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce and two Renault Mégane R.S'. Jimmy Vernon with withdrawn halfway through the series and was replaced with Jordan Cox for the remainder of the series. The team claimed seven podiums from Cox, James Moffat and Chris Pither. In 2020, Renault increased sponsorship with the team, to be renamed to Renault Sport GRM and add a third car into the main team, with James Moffat and Dylan O'Keeffe the confirmed drivers. They will also increase their presence through the series as GRM Customer Racing, with an Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce and a Peuegot 308 driven by Jordan Cox and Jason Bargwanna respectively, and Team Valvoline GRM, who also runs with an Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce and a Peuegot 308 driven by Michael Caruso and Aaron Cameron respectively.

Australian Touring Car Championship and Supercar drivers

The following is a list of drivers who have driven for the team in the Australian Touring Car Championship and Supercars, in order of their first appearance. Drivers who only drove for the team on a part-time basis are listed in italics. *

(1996–98) * ''

Jason Bright Jason Bright (born 7 March 1973) is a retired Australian racing driver who competed in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. He drove the No. 56 Ford FG X Falcon for Britek Motorsport, a satellite team of Prodrive Racing Australia, b ...

'' (1997) * Jason Bargwanna (1998–2002) * Garth Tander (1998–2004, 2017–18) * ''

Cameron McLean Cameron McLean (born 14 December 1967) is an Australian former racing driver. Career McLean began racing at age 14 in karts. He came to prominence when he won the 1995 Australian Sports Sedan Championship in a BMW M3. McLean won the 1997 a ...

'' (1998, 2006–07) * '' Greg Ritter'' (1999–2000, 2006–14) * '' Matthew Coleman'' (1999) * '' Steve Owen'' (1999) * '' Tim Leahey'' (2000) * ''

Paul Dumbrell Paul Dumbrell (born 1 September 1982) is an Australian business executive and retired racing driver. Racing history Junior career Son of former racing driver Garry Dumbrell, Paul Dumbrell started racing in karts in 1996 and by the end of 1997 D ...

'' (2001) * '' Leanne Ferrier'' (2001) * Jamie Whincup (2002–03) * '' Max Dumesny'' (2002) * '' Mark Noske'' (2002) * ''

Nathan Pretty Nathan Pretty (born 7 July 1973) is an Australian racecar driver. Career He first rose to prominence racing AUSCAR Superspeedway sedans (a Holden Commodore), becoming rookie of the year in his initial season in 1994. His family based race te ...

'' (2003–04) * '' Allen Simonsen'' (2003–04) *

(2004–05) * Andrew Jones (2005) *

(2005–07) * Lee Holdsworth (2005–11) * ''

Phillip Scifleet Phillip Scifleet, born 4 May 1977, is an Australian race driver. Starting in Karts in 1993 winning the Australian Formula A Series in 1994 before moving up into the cars for the Australian Suzuki GTi Cup in 1995. Then he moved into Formula Ford i ...

'' (2005–06) * Michael Caruso (2008–12, 2019) * ''

Steven Ellery Steven Ellery (born 22 August 1974 in Melbourne) is a retired Australian racing driver known from V8 Supercars. Racing history Early career Ellery started racing in karts before graduation to Formula Ford in 1992. After running near the front of ...

'' (2008) * '' David Besnard'' (2009–10) * ''

Patrick Long __NOTOC__ Patrick Long (born July 28, 1981) is a professional racing driver, one of 18 Porsche factory racing drivers, and the only American to hold that distinction. Racing career Sports car racing Following a successful career in karts and th ...

'' (2010) * '' Marcus Marshall'' (2011) * '' Simon Pagenaud'' (2011) * ''

Augusto Farfus Augusto Farfus Jr. (born 3 September 1983) is a Brazilian professional racing driver, and BMW Motorsport works driver. He lives in Monaco. Early years Born in Curitiba, Farfus first tasted racing in minibike races and won the local champions ...

'' (2011) * Alexandre Prémat (2012–15) * '' Jack Perkins'' (2012–13) * '' Ricky Taylor'' (2012) * '' James Hinchcliffe'' (2012) * Scott McLaughlin (2012–16) * Robert Dahlgren (2014) * David Wall (2015–16) * '' Chris Pither'' (2015, 2018–19) * James Moffat (2016–17) * James Golding (2016–19) * ''

Richard Muscat Richard Muscat (born 9 July 1992) is an Australian racing driver currently co-driving in the Pirtek Enduro Cup for Garry Rogers Motorsport, alongside James Golding. He won the Australian GT Championship The Australian GT Championship is ...

'' (2017–19) * Richie Stanaway (2019) * '' Dylan O'Keeffe'' (2019) * '' Tyler Everingham'' (2020) * '' Jayden Ojeda'' (2020)

Super2 drivers

The following is a list of drivers who have driven for the team in the Super2, in order of their first appearance. Drivers who only drove for the team on a part-time basis are listed in italics. * Leanne Ferrier (2001) * James Golding () * '' Chelsea Angelo'' () *

(–17) * Mason Barbera (2017–19) * Chris Pither (2018) * Dylan O'Keeffe (2019)

TCR Australia drivers

The following is a list of drivers who have driven for the team in the TCR Australia, in order of their first appearance. Drivers who only drove for the team on a part-time basis are listed in italics. * ''Jimmy Vernon'' (2019) * Jordan Cox (2019–present) * Chris Pither (2019) * James Moffat (2019–present) * Michael Caruso (2021) * Aaron Cameron (2021–present) * Dylan O'Keeffe (2021) * Kody Garland (2022)

Bathurst 24 Hour and Nations Cup

In 2002 Holden Motorsport was looking at running a Holden Monaro in the Bathurst 24 Hour endurance sports car race against the likes of the Lamborghini Diablo GTR, Ferrari 360 N-GT, Chrysler Viper ACR and

Porsche 911 GT3 The Porsche 911 GT3 is a high-performance homologation model of the Porsche 911 sports car. It is a line of high-performance models, which began with the 1973 911 Carrera RS. The GT3 has had a successful racing career in the one-make national ...

. After the Holden Racing Team reportedly turned down the job of building the Monaro, GRM accepted the job of building the car as well as running it. The car ran a GRM developed version of the

Chevrolet Corvette C5-R The Chevrolet Corvette C5-R is a grand touring racing car built by Pratt & Miller and Chevrolet for competition in endurance racing. The car is based on the C5 generation of the Chevrolet Corvette sports car, yet is designed purely for motorsp ...

's 7.0 litre ( 427 cui) motor which had taken numerous class wins in the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose ...

. The GRM engines were built by the team's engine builder Mike Excel. The car became known as the Holden Monaro 427C. In its race debut, the 2002 Bathurst 24 Hour, Tander qualified the bright yellow #427 car (nicknamed the "Nuclear banana") in second place behind the N-GT Ferrari F360 driven by Brad Jones. After taking the lead from the John Bowe driven Ferrari at the start, the car suffered an early flat tyre which dropped it to second behind the Cirtek Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 of

David Brabham David Brabham (born 5 September 1965) is an Australian professional racing driver and one of the most successful and experienced specialists in sports car racing. He has won three international Sports Car series and is one of four Australians t ...

, while the Ferrari had already suffered the first of two engine failures early on and was out of contention. Then, just a few hours into the race, the entire fuel cell of the Monaro needed to be replaced, dropping the car 13 laps behind the Porsche. The team overcame the fuel cell problem as well as the car becoming jammed between gears just before sunrise after

was hit by the BMW 318i of Debbie Chapman in The Chase, which also caused damage to the driver's side door. The Monaro spun and stalled, jamming the gearbox, forcing Pretty to get out and rock the car back and forth to clear the problem, a task made difficult by the Monaro's Sequential transmission. By the 18-hour mark the GRM entry had clawed its way back to second place, only three laps behind the lead. The Porsche struck trouble with a broken half-shaft, causing the car to pit for four laps. The GRM Monaro re-took the lead, despite the Monaro pitting at the same time as the Porsche to replace rear suspension bolts that had broken away from the chassis. When the Porsche returned to the track,

Allan Grice Allan Maxwell Grice (born 21 October 1942), known to motor-racing fans as "Gricey", is an Australian former racing driver and politician, most famous for twice winning the prestigious Bathurst 1000 (1986 and 1990), and as a privateer driver o ...

, told to drive as fast as possible, hit the wall on the top of the mountain while attempting to lap the

Mosler MT900R The Mosler MT900 is a sports car that was built in the United States and the United Kingdom by Mosler Automotive. Three submodels were produced. The MT900R was a racing version of the MT900. The basic car was updated as the MT900S for 2005, with ...

driven by Mark Pashley which broke the Porsche's rear suspension and took it out of contention. Upon its return to the track Darren Palmer put the car into the wall at Griffin's Bend with no steering, a legacy of the Grice crash. The Monaro, driven by Tander, Pretty,

and

, ran in the lead for the last five hours to win the race by 24 laps from the British entered Mosler of

Martin Short Martin Hayter Short (born March 26, 1950) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian, and writer. He has received various awards including two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award. In 2019 Short became an Officer of the Order of Canada. He ...

. In the race, Tander's fastest race lap of 2:14.3267 was actually quicker than Brad Jones' pole time of 2:15.0742. In 2003 GRM built a second car for the legendary touring car driver

Peter Brock Peter Geoffrey Brock (26 February 1945 – 8 September 2006), known as "Peter Perfect", "The King of the Mountain", or simply "Brocky", was an Australian motor racing driver. Brock was most often associated with Holden for almost 40 years, ...

. It was this second car which won the 2003 Bathurst 24 Hour with

, Todd Kelly and

Greg Murphy Gregory Murphy (born 23 August 1972) is a New Zealand professional racing driver, best known as a four-time winner of the Bathurst 1000. Greg Murphy joined Jeremy Clarkson and James May presenting Top Gear Live, when it had its first intern ...

sharing the driving with Brock. The winning car from 2002, driven by the same four drivers as the previous year, finished second, less than one second behind after 24 hours of racing. With seven minutes to go in the race, and with the two Monaros running nose to tail, Garry Rogers gave Murphy and Tander permission to race each other to the finish, with orders to respect the work put into the event by the team and not to take each other out. Tander was all over Murphy in the final four laps of the race and set the race's fastest lap of 2:14.489 with just three laps to go, while Murphy's corresponding lap time was a 2:14.499, which was his car's fastest lap of the race. Tander's last chance at snatching victory from Murphy with a last lap lunge into Murray's Corner was thwarted due to yellow flags on the last lap forcing him to stay behind and finish second. For Brock, the 2003 Bathurst 24 Hour would be his last win at Mount Panorama, and would be seen by some (including himself) as his tenth Bathurst win, despite the race not being the traditional Bathurst 1000 where he had scored his nine other wins dating back to 1972. After the teams 1-2 finish in the 2003 Bathurst 24 Hour, Garry Rogers said in an interview with Australian Muscle Car (AMC) Magazine that with the restrictions that PROCAR forced the team to have on the 7.0 litre V8s, such as induction and rev limits, he believed the cars would actually have been faster using the smaller Gen III production based engine which would have been almost restriction free, as seen with the Mosler MT900R which used the 5.7 litre motor. He also refuted that having a professional team such as GRM made the car unbeatable at Bathurst, stating that had anyone built a V10 Viper to at least the same standards and had professional drivers like the Monaros instead of part-timers and gentlemen drivers, then "''nobody would have seen which way they went''", as during the Nations Cup Championship, Greg Crick's privately entered Viper had shown on a small budget that it was capable of beating the Monaros. Ten years later, in a late 2013 interview with AMC to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the 2003 Bathurst 24 Hour and GRM's switch from Holden to Volvo in 2014, Rogers proclaimed that winning the two Bathurst 24 Hour races and finishing 1–2 in 2003 was the crowning achievement for his team during their 25 years running Holdens which spanned from 1988 until 2013. Former GRM driver and 2002 Bathurst 24 Hour winner Garth Tander also told in the article that while many people were surprised that the Monaros were five seconds slower around the Mount Panorama Circuit than the V8 Supercars were at the time, especially given that the Monaros ran the 7.0 litre engines while the V8 Supercars were restricted to 5.0 litre V8s, the Monaro weighed in at over 1,600 kilograms, nearly 300 kg heavier than a V8 Supercar. Tander also said that the top speed of the Monaros on Conrod Straight was only around , compared to the V8s which were reaching just under , though he did point out that the Monaros were two seconds faster from Griffin's Bend to McPhillamy Park. The 2002 Bathurst 24 Hour race-winning Monaro currently resides at the National Motor Racing Museum, located at Mount Panorama in Bathurst. The 2003 Bathurst 24 Hour winner is currently owned by a historic car racing enthusiast, the third Monaro driven by James Brock was placed under auction on 20 February 2020.

References

External links

The Garry Rogers Motorsport website
{{Melbourne Sports Teams Supercars Championship teams Australian auto racing teams Sports teams in Victoria (Australia) Australian racecar constructors Renault in motorsport