Garry Rogers Motorsport (GRM) is one of the longstanding teams of Supercars, backed and respected by fans on both sides of the Holden, Ford divide.
The team has its origins in 1963 when Garry Rogers made his racing debut and saw that this could further his own career. Little did he know that he would become instrumental in furthering even better talent that would walk through his door.
Rogers first launched his team in what is now the Supercars Championship in 1996, though he had previously been involved in several other series including Formula Ford and AUSCAR.
Through the team’s involvement in the sport, they have helped many big names get their start in the sport.
Steven Richards, Jason Bargwanna, Garth Tander, Jamie Whincup, Lee Holdsworth, Michael Caruso and Scott McLaughlin, all racing for GRM early in their careers.
Tander returned to the team in his last two seasons racing full-time in the series, after claiming the first Bathurst win for the team with Jason Bargwanna in 2000. That season remains their most successful with Tander finishing runner up to Mark Scaife after winning several rounds and leading the series earlier on.
The team collected back to back wins at the Bathurst 24 hours endurance race in 2002 and 2003.
Supercars legends Peter Brock, Greg Murphy, Jason Bright, and Todd Kelly sharing the winning car, bringing home a 1-2 finish for the team in the 2003 race.
The team has been a mainstay of the championship for decades although they haven’t quite found form to keep them at the top of the field.
While they have had many top-notch drivers in the team one of the most successful periods has been 2013-2016 when Scott McLaughlin raced for the team.
2014 saw the team move to race Volvo S60’s in the Supercars Championship.
McLaughlin collecting 10 podiums including four wins for the team in their first year in a new car and only his second in the championship.
The team’s second season with the new car wasn’t as successful with no race wins and just five podiums in a season that saw a number of mechanical issues for the team. In 2016 the team would fare better with two race wins for McLaughlin who finished third overall in the drivers’ championship. This would be the final year for both Volvo and McLaughlin at GRM.
With Volvo withdrawing from the series, it was announced that GRM would run Holden Commodores in 2017.
2020 has seen the team absent from the Supercars grid due to team sponsor Boost Mobile pulling support for the team just weeks before the racing entitlements contract deadline unless Supercars made changes to the series rules that would lower the cost of competing.
Without receiving a deadline extension to submit their Racing Entitlement Contract, and left without sponsorship, the team was forced to pull out of the series competed in for over 20 years.
Though they have continued in other categories including the TCR series with, James Moffat, Chris Pither, and Jimmy Vernon, who left the team mid-season replaced by Jordan Cox in the 2019 season.
GRM had been planning to run a Bathurst wildcard at this year’s Bathurst 1000 with young guns Tyler Everingham and Nathan Herne behind the wheel, though this has also not run smoothly.
The team applied for a Super Licence exemption for Herne but had this denied by Motorsport Australia. This resulted in the team choosing to appeal the decision or run a different driver, something the team has ruled out.
The team has gone into isolation in preparation for the race, unsure if they will get the exemption they need to compete.
It hasn’t been confirmed if the team will be on the grid at Bathurst, though the team has said that they intend to be there. Has GRM actually left Supercars completely?
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