Rogers thought Whincup was hard done by at Albert Park

Valvoline Racing GRM boss Garry Rogers believes five-time champ Jamie Whincup was harshly penalised for the heated battle with his driver, Scott McLaughlin, at Albert Park. 

The contest from the Clipsal 500 was revived in the first of four races, but the Red Bull racer was docked five grid positions after it was deemed he did not give the Volvo sufficient racing room.

“To be quite honest, I think he was harshly penalised in that,” Rogers told v8supercars.com.au.

“Look, I would be disappointed in my drivers if they hadn’t have done the same thing – you’ve got to try and hold your position. And someone’s seen he’s perhaps carried it a little too far, but my opinion is he was just doing what he is paid to do.”

Whincup made his full-time V8 Supercars debut with GRM back in 2003, having driven for the team for one year, as well as contesting the 2002 enduros there with Mark Noske. He has widely said he had been worried he would not make it in the category after losing that drive, having to return as a co-driver the following year.

But the past is in the past and Rogers insists he has a good relationship with Whincup.

“Yeah of course we do, I get on with everybody!” he said.

“I get on really well with Jamie Whincup, he calls and goes by and vice versa.

“I have no angst with anyone. I go for the fun of it and want to enjoy it – there are certain people I don’t have a lot of time for, but he’s not one of them.”

The Red Bull racer said at the weekend he didn’t think the head-to-head battle with McLaughlin would be the next hot rivalry on track – there are 24 other drivers on-track to beat and it didn’t matter who the battle was with – the goal is to beat everyone else. 

But does that mean the Champ is underestimating McLaughlin, his Volvo and the power of the Kiwi jandal?

“I don’t really have a comment on that… Does the question mean are we competitive? Obviously we are. Is he competitive? Obviously he is. So you’d think that would be the case.

“But let me tell you, there will be others in that battle too, we’re not going to be the only two in there.”

The banter between rivals up and down pit lane has already fired up after two events, with Whincup’s team boss Roland Dane accusing Ryan Walkinshaw of wearing make-up – something Rogers, who dressed up as a member of Abba on the Clipsal 500 grid to celebrate Volvo’s debut performance – found hilarious.

“That’s what we need! I don’t know whether Ryan wears makeup or whether Roland Dane sits down on the dunny, I don’t know, but really I find that quite amusing!” he joked. “I dress up as a girl... I’ll dress up anything that makes people laugh!”

After McLaughlin’s jandal comment at the Clipsal 500, the team has produced a range of t-shirts, in the wake of an explosion on social media. Rogers believes the reaction shows people just want to be entertained.

“We are in the entertainment business and as soon as people wake up to that they’ll see what a good job they can do. You don’t have to be in everyone’s face but you need to have a bit of light-hearted mirth and laughter and I think clearly the jandal scenario shows you…

“I’ve got these huge jandals the size of tennis rackets – I look really stylish in them except I keep tripping over.

“I’ll learn to manage them as soon as the novelty wears off. We’ll have to come up with a new saying, something about nice runners, so I can get back into normal life!”

The flamboyant team owner is proud of the race win, but said it didn’t start at Clipsal – rather back when the team begun building the S60s. 

Click here for information on purchasing the GRM jandal shirt, and visit the V8 Supercars store for other teams' merchandise.