GRM in advanced Bathurst wildcard talks

Garry Rogers Motorsport is deep in talks about returning to the Supercars grid to field a wildcard for the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 next month.

The popular team withdrew from the championship at the end of last season but has maintained ever since that it would keep the door ajar for a possible return.

That could come sooner than expected, with GRM team director Barry Rogers confirming serious interest in the 2020 Great Race.

GRM has two ZB Commodores in its possession, each with current-spec Walkinshaw engines.

Those cars are the two it ran last year: one for Richie Stanaway that has been reverted to its 2018 Garth Tander-driven livery, and James Golding’s Boost-backed #34 from the 2019 series.

Of the possibility of competing at Mount Panorama, Rogers told Supercars.com: “There’s some interest for us.

“I mean look, we’ve always said we’re in motor racing; what motivates us is bringing on young guys, that type of thing.

“We’re just seeing potentially what’s about and hopefully we might be able to give a bit more information as the week unfolds.”

GRM is based in Dandenong South, Victoria, with its staff currently in lockdown – a factor that has partly spurred the team to pull together a target to work towards.

“To be honest with you, we’ve probably been a bit more serious about it since we’ve been in lockdown in Melbourne with our staff at home,” Rogers added.

“You want to try to get them motivated and keep them all going, so we just sort of thought if it was the right make-up [we will look at it].”

That right make-up, in typical GRM fashion, involves providing opportunities to some up-and-coming drivers.

“This is no disrespect to any old-timers that have been around, but we wouldn’t want to fill the seat with a couple of blokes who have been around the block a million times,” said Rogers.

“For us, the right make-up is good young talent that we believe can go out and put their best foot forward. We want to feel like we’re bringing a new group through.

“We want some young guys that we believe are up to it, Garry has got a group of drivers he’s thinking about and we’ll make a decision on it hopefully this week.”

This year marks the 20th anniversary of GRM’s win in the Bathurst 1000, achieved with drivers Garth Tander and Jason Bargwanna.

They were among a host of youngsters to get their big Supercars break with GRM - a list that also includes the likes of Scott McLaughlin, Jamie Whincup and Lee Holdsworth.

The Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 will take place across October 15-18.