ROGERS WANTS TO SEE BASKERVILLE RETURN

Garry Rogers Motorsport and Australian Racing Group owner Barry Rogers wants to return to Baskerville Raceway in Tasmania after a successful trip to the undulating Tasmanian circuit last year.

In 2021 ARG categories Trans Am, Touring Car Masters and TCR Australia each had a non-championship round at Baskerville following just days after the opening round at Symmons Plains.

Baskerville is not on the schedule this year, but would be very keen to see it return once more in 2023.

“It’s fantastic to kick off Australian motorsport in Tasmania for a second year running and let’s hope in 2023 we can return to the doubleheader,” Rogers said.

Rogers recently returned from Tasmania as he visited Symmons Plains as part of the GRM Combine event, this saw half a dozen young drivers get laps in a TCR, S5000 and Trans Am at the classic Tasmanian venue.

Symmons Plains will again kickstart the season, and Rogers believes it is a great place to begin.

“It’s great to get the season started in Tasmania, there’s no better place than down there during the summer,” said Rogers.

“There’s been a lot of interest. The television news has been out, the newspapers have done likewise, we’d walk into somewhere with our team uniform on and people ask about Race Tasmania, they’re all looking forward to it.

“I think what we offer with our categories within ARG is big bash type style where one class finishes and another starts, it’s non-stop action. When fans come to the races, they don’t want to sit on the hill and watch safety car or ride cars going around, they want to see action.”

Rogers highlighted the support received not only from fans but by the Tasmanian Government and the regulating body Motorsport Tasmania.

“There’s nowhere in Australia where you get the support you do in Tasmania,” Rogers expressed. “The government and Motorsports Tasmania are really behind the sport.

“I was speaking to the Minister for Sport and Recreation, Jane Howlett at Baskerville during the combine and I said, ‘if you think the home AFL, you think Victoria even though it’s played around the country, the home of NRL is New South Wales, but if you think motorsport, it doesn’t have a home.

“I mean Bathurst is the obvious location because it’s such an iconic place, but in Tasmania there is Baskerville, which is Australia’s oldest permanent circuit. I know it’s only a club circuit, but there are certainly things in place to get it up to national level and add Symmons Plains, I believe Tasmania is the home of motorsport.

“Of course, Longford as well where there is a lot of history and tradition.”

Race Tasmania will again feature TCR Australia, the S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship and the Trans Am Series from February 11-13.

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