Never let it be said that Garry Rogers didn’t have fun in motorsport.
Rogers, who sadly passed away Thursday morning, will be remembered fondly for many things, not least of which how his eponymous team injected a bit of frivolity into the sometimes too-serious Supercars scene.
To his credit, Rogers always led from the front: this is from the Wanneroo round in 1998, Garry Rogers Motorsport’s third season in what is now known as Supercars.
The following year delivered GRM’s breakthrough season, where drivers Garth Tander and Jason Bargwanna took multiple race and round wins for the team.
It also saw the squad ramp up its skits on the grid.
The topic often revolved around the news of the time, ranging from then-Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles debut as a couple…
…to the continuing pursuit of failed entrepreneur, emphysema enthusiast and Majorca resident Christopher Skase…
…and the impeachment proceedings surrounding the then-President of the United States, Bill Clinton.
They continued into 2000, when Rogers’ team was in the thick of championship contention.
That year produced Rogers’ personal favourite grid skit – wheeling Lady Godiva out on the grid ahead of the 2000 Bathurst 1000.
Although Garry admitted his fondness for that particular jape might’ve been down to how that race went…
And then there’s this one from Hidden Valley in 2001 – unsure if this was a commentary on the height difference between Tander and Bargs!
While the pre-race skits were toned down in the following years, the spirit of cheekiness never left the GRM garage.
Witness the ‘squashed frog’ decals on the headlights of the GRM cars at the inaugural Sydney Telstra 500, a nod to one of the environmental concerns raised ahead of the Homebush Street Circuit’s maiden Supercars race in 2009.
Even having a car too damaged to take the start didn’t stop GRM from having some pre-race fun.
For the Sunday race at the 2012 Gold Coast 600, they rolled out the remains of their #33 entry – unable to be repaired after a roll-over crash the day before – into pit lane to take part in the driver introductions.
That ‘Hawaiian’ shirt that Rogers wore wasn’t a one off.
In fact, the brightly-coloured floral getups were a GRM crew tradition at the Gold Coast 600, with even the drivers getting involved in 2013.
The GRM crew certainly didn’t mind a bit of fancy dress at a race meeting.
Or even on the way to a race meeting, if you remember the shenanigans of their team road trip to Bathurst in 2014.
The creation of a ‘Retro Round’ component at the Sandown 500 was always going to be something that Rogers’ team would take to heart and, with the exception of 2019, GRM always had something special to roll out for Supercars’ throwback weekend.
One of their best efforts came in 2018 when, along with the retro liveries inspired by race cars from Rogers’ past, the team wound the clock back in its attire by adopting tight white shorts and terry-towelling hats.
Even their lunches went retro, with the crew chomping down on Chiko Rolls and potato cakes during Friday practice!
However, one GRM grid stunt stands head and shoulders above all others the team carried out across its time in Supercars.
Cast your mind back to the 2014 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, the team’s first trip to Mount Panorama with the Volvo S60.
There were plenty of people bemused by the wooden box that the crew wheeled up to third position on the grid, alongside where the team’s #33 car of Scott McLaughlin and Alexandre Premat was due to start.
It turned out the wooden box was a ‘sauna’ – and you don’t need two guesses to work out who was inside.
