WHAT’S IN THE WORKSHOP – GARRY ROGERS MOTORSPORT

What’s in the Workshop – Garry Rogers Motorsport

Garry Rogers Motorsport has been busy at work during the hiatus from racing across all of its racing programs.

By HEATH McALPINE

Starting with its array of TCR machinery, engineer Richard Hollway has been working hard on the Renault Megane TCR section of the team carrying out the new Evo-specification upgrades for the two entries that James Moffat and Dylan O’Keeffe will pilot in this year’s series.

In fact, the upgraded engine that will be fitted to O’Keeffe’s Megane is on its way to Australia ahead of a hopeful test schedule before the opening round at Sydney Motorsport Park, which has been pushed back to September.

“The new engine is in Zurich waiting to get boarded, we expect to see that by the middle of next week,” GRM director Barry Rogers told Auto Action.

Considering the current restrictions in place, it is lucky that Sandown is situated within the Melbourne metropolitan area, which allows the team to test without going through the police blocks that are currently located on the main arterials. Rogers believes that this won’t be a problem when the team go testing at Winton ahead of SMP.

“We’ve got a test planned for Sandown in early August and are still hopeful to go to Winton before the opening round of the season,” Rogers said.

“Under the workplace conditions and under those types of scenarios it’s able to be done.”

Currently the team is completing the maintenance and servicing on 11 S5000s with Rogers confident that a strong field will enter for SMP declaring competitor interest has been high for the formula.

In the short-term, a part of GRM’s heritage is currently being put together and replicated in preparation for the Bathurst International Holden Revival.

After receiving the 2002 Bathurst 24 Hour winning 427 Monaro back from the National Motor Racing Museum at Bathurst, work began on stripping that car to aid in the construction of a replica that is currently in the fabrication stage.

“The 2002 Monaro we had up at the Bathurst museum,” Rogers explained. “We got it back because we needed to dismantle it and put it on the chassis jig to get all the measurements for the 2020 Monaro.

“We had to get all the measurements and pick up points accurately to complete the build on the new car then the old Monaro will be put back together in the coming weeks.”

As racing gets back underway, What’s In The Workshop will continue albeit in a staggered manner.

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