Garry Rogers Motorsport

Manufacturer	Peugeot
Team Principal	TBA
Team Manager	Stefan Millard
Race Drivers	TCR Australia Garry Rogers Motorsport 5.Jordan Cox 71.Ben Bargwanna GRM Team Valvoline 18.Aaron Cameron 81.Ryan Casha
Chassis	Peugeot 308
Debut	1996
Drivers' Championships	0
Round wins	11
Race wins	21
Pole positions	23
2019 position	9th (3145 pts)

Garry Rogers Motorsport is an Australian motor racing team owned by the late 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 NASCAR race cars to building the GT specificationHolden Monaro 427C. The team won theBathurst 1000 in2000 and also won both of theBathurst 24 Hour races which were held in2002 and2003. 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, includingSteven Richards,Jason Bargwanna,Garth Tander,Jamie Whincup,Lee Holdsworth andScott McLaughlin. Many of these drivers became future champions and Bathurst 1000 winners.^[1]

The team competed in the2019 TCR Australia Touring Car Series with twoRenault Mégane R.S TCR and anAlfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR. They entered the2020 season asRenault Sport GRM, after being sponsored by Renault Australia, in which they ran three Renault Mégane R.S TCRs.^[2]

In 2018, Garry Rogers Motorsport built the first batch of S5000 single-seater race cars as a part of a partnership with the newly createdS5000 Australian Drivers' Championship race category.^[3]

On 23 October 2025 it was announced that team owner Garry Rogers died at the age of 80.^[4]

Garry Rogers Motorsport has its origins in 1963 when Garry Rogers began racingAppendix J Holdens.^[5] He then went on to race Sports Sedans during the late 1960s and the 1970s. In the mid-1970s Rogers got more serious, running aBDA Escort in Sports Sedans with some success, before moving onto an ex-Ian GeogheganHolden Monaro. Around this time, in late 1978, Rogers also moved into theAustralian Touring Car Championship as a privateer in an ex-Bob JaneHolden Torana. 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 the1981 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 theBathurst 1000, including Allan Browne's Re-Car team in1982 paired with Ron Wanless (who famously drove theCommodore the wrong direction through pit lane without incurring a penalty). Rogers was a top 10 qualifier at Bathurst in1983, partnering Clive Benson-Brown to a 13th-place finish after suffering brake problems, while in 1984 he drove with Melbourne's motor racing 'Gentleman', CaptainPeter Janson in theCastrol 500 atSandown, and theJames 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 FIAGroup A from1985, Rogers once again only drove atSandown andBathurst, teaming with Melbourne solicitor Jim Keogh in Keogh's ex-JPS Team BMW635 CSi. After not finishing at Sandown, the pair finished 6th outright at Bathurst, 4 laps behind theTWRJaguar XJS ofJohn Goss andArmin Hahne.

GRM re-emerged in 1986 when he purchased a BMW 635 CSi from JPS Team BMW and drove it throughout that year'stouring car season. The year included a win in one of the AMSCAR Series races at Amaroo Park. Rogers BMW carried sponsorship fromBob Jane T-Marts, with the car painted in Bob Jane's famous Hugger Orange. At the1986 James Hardie 1000, Rogers teamed with QueenslanderCharlie O'Brien. 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) prepared, but unsponsoredHolden VL Commodore SS Group A SV at theTooheys 1000, sharing the drive with AmericanJohn Andretti, the nephew of motor racing legendMario Andretti. Rogers had originally wanted Mario to drive with him at Bathurst, hoping his high-profile would help land a major sponsor, but the1978World Champion was unavailable and suggested his nephew as a replacement. 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 the1989 Australian Touring Car Championship. For the1989 Bathurst 1000, Rogers accepted an offer to driveColin Bond'sCaltex CXT Race Team's secondFord Sierra RS500 with Ken Mathews (the car was the Sierra thatTony Longhurst andTomas Mezera had driven to victory the 1988 race). Rogers and Mathews failed to finish the race. In the early 1990s GRM turned its attention to theCalder Park Thunderdome and theAUSCAR series running a variety ofFord Falcons during the category's heyday (during the 1990s AUSCAR fields were dominated by theHolden Commodore). At first, Rogers drove the car himself alongside Paul Fordham. Garry slowly eased himself out of regular driving, puttingSteven Richards in the seat. The team also secured a major sponsor inValvoline along the way.

In this time the team also competed in Production Car racing at events such as the Winton 300 andBathurst 12 Hour. The team used aNissan Pulsar and a300ZX 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 andGarth Tander.

GRM joined the fledglingAustralian Super Touring Championship in1995 with young lead driverSteven Richards driving the team'sAlfa 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 aHonda Accord 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 aNissan Primera but the team's form slipped, distracted by their new V8 Supercar and Richards finished seventh, losing the Privateers Cup to Cameron McLean.

Garry Rogers Motorsport joined theAustralian Touring Car Championship in 1996 with Richards a driving aHolden VS Commodore sourced fromGibson Motorsport.^[6] The team expanded to two cars in 1998, withJason Bargwanna driving the second car.^[7] Richards went toEngland for a test drive with theNissan team in theBritish Touring Car Championship and was replaced by 1997Australian Formula Ford champion Garth Tander. Bargwanna scored the team's first race win at Calder that year, also finishing second for the round.^[8] Tander scored the team's first round win in 1999 atQueensland Raceway and he and Bargwanna finished second in theQueensland 500 in the same year.^[9]

The 2000 season remains the team's most successful season to date. Tander won three rounds (including theBathurst 1000 with Bargwanna) and finished runner-up toMark Skaife in the title.^[10] 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.^[11] 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 inCanberra.^[12] Bargwanna took his final win for the team at Surfers Paradise in 2002 before switching toLarkham Motor Sport for the 2003 season.^[13] He was replaced by2002 Australian Formula Ford championJamie Whincup.^[14]

GRM was one of the first teams to use theHolden VY Commodore for the 2003 season, with Tander driving the new model car. Whincup would drive an older modelVX Commodore. Whincup was sacked at the end of the season and was replaced byCameron McConville for 2004.^[15] McConville took the team's first round win in two years in controversial circumstances atWinton when he passedRick Kelly on the second last corner of the race just after the end of a yellow flag zone.^[16] Tander left the team at the end of 2004 for what was then calledKmart Racing and was replaced byAndrew Jones. Jones was sacked after Bathurst and was replaced byDean Canto 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 toPaul Weel Racing.^[17] The team scored one race win in 2006 with Canto winning the reverse grid race atBarbagallo afterTeam Kiwi Racing driverPaul 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 newHolden VE Commodore. Holdsworth remained in a VZ Commodore until theQueensland 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.^[18] Holdsworth rebounded quickly to score his maiden V8 Supercar round win atOran Park Raceway. 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.^[19]

Michael Caruso joined the team for 2008, replacing Canto. No wins came for the team in this season, however Holdsworth finished second at theClipsal 500 and he and Caruso finished fifth at theL&H 500.^[20] Caruso won his first race in 2009, holding off a late race charge fromAlex Davison in the Sunday race atHidden Valley. Holdsworth was again on the podium at theClipsal 500, finishing second in the Saturday race. The team also achieved a podium atBathurst, with Holdsworth and Caruso finishing third. The second car ofGreg Ritter andDavid 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.^[21]

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.^[22] TheClipsal 500 saw Holdsworth finish on the podium at the event for the third year in a row, Holdsworth taking third place on Sunday.^[23] The team came very close to winning theBathurst 1000, 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.^[24] Holdsworth won the final race of the year at the Sydney 500 after taking both pole positions for the event.^[25]

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 atHamilton and at Winton and third at the2011 Gold Coast 600, driving with FrenchmanSimon Pagenaud.^[26] Caruso achieved a best result of fourth at the Sydney 500.^[27] Holdsworth left the team to joinStone Brothers Racing in 2012 and he was replaced by French driverAlexandre Prémat, while Caruso entered his fifth season with the team.^[28] 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 byDevelopment Series champion Scott McLaughlin.^[29]

For 2013, McLaughlin was signed to drive for the team full-time alongside Prémat, with Caruso moving toNissan Motorsport.^[30] Under the newNew 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 theClipsal 500.^[31] 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.^[32] 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.^[33] He was on track for another podium in the final race before a tyre failure dropped him down the field.^[34] Both cars finished in the top ten at theSandown 500, with McLaughlin andJack Perkins finishing eighth and Prémat and Greg Ritter finishing tenth.^[35] McLaughlin finished the year tenth in the points standings while Prémat finished in nineteenth.

In June 2013 it had been announced that the team would switch to running the Volvo S60 for the2014 season, in a collaboration with Volvo Cars andPolestar Racing.^[36] As a result of the Swedish manufacturer's involvement, Prémat was dropped in favour of Swedish driverRobert Dahlgren.^[37] While Dahlgren largely struggled, McLaughlin achieved considerable success, winning four races and the2014 Plus Fitness Phillip Island 400 event on the way to finishing fifth in the championship. In 2015, the second car was driven byDavid Wall and in 2016 byJames Moffat.^[38] In 2015, Polestar was split in half and GRM no longer had an association with the Polestar brand as of 2016.^[39] In 2016 the team however did feature branding ofCyan Racing, the new name for the former racing arm of Polestar, and Volvo Dealer Racing.^[39] It was then announced that the team's association with Volvo would end at the conclusion of the2016 season, with the cars and engines to be returned to Sweden.^[40] On track, after a winless 2015 the team returned to form at the2016 WD-40 Phillip Island SuperSprint with McLaughlin winning both races over the weekend, and ultimately finishing 3rd in the drivers' championship.^[41]

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 joinDJR Team Penske.^[42][43] The team only scored a single podium at Phillip Island, with Tander, as well as addingJames Golding as a wildcard throughout the year.^[44] Moffat left the team at the end of 2017 and was replaced by Golding.^[45][46] 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.^[47] 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.^[48][49]

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.^[50] At the end of the season,Richie Stanaway announced his retirement from motorsport only to return withErebus Motorsport in 2022 andJames Golding went to Charlie Schwerkolt'sTeam 18 as a Co-Driver for the Enduro Cup.^[51][52]

In 2019, the team entered into theTCR Australia Touring Car Series, entering in a singleAlfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce and twoRenault Mégane R.S'.^[53][54] Jimmy Vernon with withdrawn halfway through the series and was replaced with Jordan Cox for the remainder of the series.^[54] The team claimed seven podiums from Cox, James Moffat and Chris Pither. In 2020, Renault increased sponsorship with the team, to be renamed toRenault Sport GRM and add a third car into the main team, with James Moffat and Dylan O'Keeffe the confirmed drivers.^[55][56] They also increased their presence through the series asGRM Customer Racing, with anAlfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce and aPeuegot 308 driven by Jordan Cox and Jason Bargwanna respectively,^[57][58] andTeam Valvoline GRM, who also runs with anAlfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce and aPeuegot 308 driven by Michael Caruso and Aaron Cameron respectively.^[59][60]

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.

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 (2015–16)
• Chelsea Angelo (2016)
• Richard Muscat (2016–17)
• Mason Barbera (2017–19)
• Chris Pither (2018)
• Dylan O'Keeffe (2019)

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.

In 2002 Holden Motorsport was looking at running aHolden Monaro in theBathurst 24 Hour endurance sports car race against the likes of theLamborghini Diablo GTR,Ferrari 360 N-GT,Chrysler Viper ACR andPorsche 911 GT3. After theHolden 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 theChevrolet Corvette C5-R's 7.0 litre (427 cui) motor which had taken numerous class wins in the24 Hours of Le Mans. The GRM engines were built by the team's engine builder Mike Excel. The car became known as theHolden Monaro 427C.

In its race debut, the2002 Bathurst 24 Hour, Tander qualified the bright yellow #427 car (nicknamed the "Nuclear banana") in second place behind the N-GT Ferrari F360 driven byBrad Jones. After taking the lead from theJohn 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 ofDavid Brabham, 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 afterNathan Pretty was hit by theBMW 318i ofDebbie 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'sSequential 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, told to drive as fast as possible, hit the wall on the top of the mountain while attempting to lap theMosler MT900R 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,Steven Richards andCameron McConville, ran in the lead for the last five hours to win the race by 24 laps from the British entered Mosler ofMartin Short. 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 driverPeter Brock. It was this second car which won the2003 Bathurst 24 Hour withJason Bright,Todd Kelly andGreg Murphy 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 to1972.

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 275 km/h (171 mph), compared to the V8s which were reaching just under 300 km/h (186 mph), 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 theNational 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.^[61]

• Greenhalgh, David; Howard, Graham; Wilson, Stewart (2011).The official history: Australian Touring Car Championship - 50 Years.St Leonards,New South Wales: Chevron Publishing Group.ISBN 978-0-9805912-2-4.

• The Garry Rogers Motorsport website