GRM traces its origins to 1963 when Garry Rogers began racing Appendix J Holdens. Through the late 1960s and 1970s he raced Sports Sedans, and in the mid-1970s ran a BDA Escort in Sports Sedans with some success before moving to an ex-Ian Geoghegan Holden Monaro. In late 1978 Rogers entered the Australian Touring Car Championship as a privateer in an ex-Bob Jane Holden Torana, continuing until the end of 1979.
In 1981 Rogers drove a Holden Torana LX SS A9X Hatchback in the Australian Sports Sedan Championship. The team then disbanded while Rogers concentrated on his Nissan dealership. He drove for other teams at the Bathurst 1000, including a pairing with Ron Wanless in Allan Browne's Re-Car team in 1982. Rogers qualified in the top ten at Bathurst in 1983, finishing 13th with Clive Benson-Brown after brake problems. In 1984 he drove with Peter Janson in Janson's Commodore at both Sandown and Bathurst, failing to finish both races.
Under FIA Group A regulations from 1985, Rogers drove at Sandown and Bathurst only, teaming with Jim Keogh in Keogh's ex-JPS Team BMW 635 CSi, finishing sixth outright at Bathurst — four laps behind the TWR Jaguar XJS of John Goss and Armin Hahne.
GRM re-emerged in 1986 when Rogers purchased a BMW 635 CSi from JPS Team BMW and drove it through that year's touring car season, including a win in one of the AMSCAR Series races at Amaroo Park. The car carried sponsorship from Bob Jane T-Marts in Bob Jane's Hugger Orange livery. At the 1986 James Hardie 1000 Rogers teamed with Charlie O'Brien, but the car retired after 19 laps with a slipping clutch.
After 1987 on ice, the team returned in late 1988 with a Les Small (Roadways Racing) prepared Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV at the Tooheys 1000, sharing with American John Andretti — nephew of Mario Andretti. Rogers had originally sought Mario Andretti, but he was unavailable and suggested his nephew. Andretti, still recovering from a broken leg, put the Commodore into the wall at Reid Park on lap 37. The Commodore also ran in selected Victorian rounds of the 1989 Australian Touring Car Championship.
For the 1989 Bathurst 1000, Rogers accepted a drive in Colin Bond's Caltex CXT Race Team's second Ford Sierra RS500 with Ken Mathews — the car that Tony Longhurst and Tomas Mezera had driven to victory in 1988. They failed to finish.
In the early 1990s GRM moved to the Calder Park Thunderdome and the AUSCAR series, running Ford Falcons. Rogers initially drove himself alongside Paul Fordham before progressively handing the seat to Steven Richards. The team secured major sponsorship from Valvoline. GRM also competed in Production Car racing, using a Nissan Pulsar and 300ZX due to Rogers' Nissan dealership ties, and assisted Formula Ford teams during the 1990s.
GRM joined the Australian Super Touring Championship in 1995 with Steven Richards in an Alfa Romeo 155. Richards established himself as a leading privateer, finishing ninth. In 1995 the team replaced the Alfa with a Honda Accord; Richards won the Privateers Cup and placed fifth in the championship behind factory-supported BMW and Audi drivers. In 1996 the team ran a Nissan Primera, but results slipped and Richards finished seventh, losing the Privateers Cup to Cameron McLean.
GRM entered the Australian Touring Car Championship in 1996 with Richards driving a Holden VS Commodore sourced from Gibson Motorsport. The team expanded to two cars in 1998, with Jason Bargwanna joining. Richards went to England for a test with Nissan in the British Touring Car Championship and was replaced by 1997 Australian Formula Ford champion Garth Tander. Bargwanna scored the team's first race win at Calder that year and finished second for the round. Tander scored the team's first round win in 1999 at Queensland Raceway; he and Bargwanna also finished second in the Queensland 500.
The 2000 season remains the team's most successful. Tander won three rounds including the Bathurst 1000 with Bargwanna, and finished runner-up to Mark Skaife in the championship. Tander had led early in the season but a couple of poor rounds allowed Skaife to take the lead. In 2001 Tander and Bargwanna finished tenth and fifteenth respectively. Bargwanna took his final win for the team at Surfers Paradise in 2002, then moved to Larkham Motor Sport for 2003.
Bargwanna was replaced for 2003 by 2002 Australian Formula Ford champion Jamie Whincup. GRM was one of the first teams to use the Holden VY Commodore. Whincup was sacked at season's end and replaced by Cameron McConville for 2004. McConville took the team's first round win in two years in controversial circumstances at Winton when he passed Rick Kelly on the second-last corner after a yellow flag zone. Tander left at the end of 2004 for what was then called Kmart Racing and was replaced by Andrew Jones. Jones was sacked after Bathurst and replaced by Dean Canto for 2005 and 2006. Lee Holdsworth also joined in 2006.
In 2006 Canto won the reverse-grid race at Barbagallo after Team Kiwi Racing's Paul Radisich spun off at the last corner. In 2007 the team received its first major livery change since joining the sport — the traditional blue, white and red replaced by black, silver and red — and major sponsor Repco also departed.
In 2007 Holdsworth was involved in a serious crash at Winton, sliding off the circuit and hitting the wall backwards at high speed. He rebounded to score his maiden V8 Supercar round win at Oran Park Raceway in very wet weather after a strong strategy call. Michael Caruso joined for 2008 replacing Canto. Caruso won his first race in 2009 at Hidden Valley. The team also achieved a Bathurst podium in 2009 with Holdsworth and Caruso finishing third.
In 2010 the team's major sponsor changed from Valvoline to Fujitsu. Holdsworth and Besnard led the majority of the Bathurst 1000 but a drive-through penalty for speeding in pit lane with thirty laps remaining dropped them to seventh. Holdsworth won the final race of 2010 at the Sydney 500.
In 2011 the best results were two second-place finishes for Holdsworth and a third at the Gold Coast 600, where he was paired with Frenchman Simon Pagenaud. Holdsworth left to join Stone Brothers Racing in 2012, replaced by French driver Alexandre Prémat. At the 2012 Sydney 500 Prémat showed pace before retiring from the Saturday race with heat exhaustion; he was replaced by Development Series champion Scott McLaughlin.
McLaughlin was signed full-time for 2013 alongside Prémat, with Caruso moving to Nissan Motorsport. McLaughlin became the youngest-ever V8 Supercar race winner when he took victory at Pukekohe. He finished tenth in the points while Prémat finished nineteenth.
In June 2013 it was announced GRM would switch to the Volvo S60 for 2014, in collaboration with Volvo Cars and Polestar Racing. Prémat was replaced by Swedish driver Robert Dahlgren. McLaughlin achieved considerable success, winning four races and the 2014 Plus Fitness Phillip Island 400 event, finishing fifth in the championship. In 2015 the second car was driven by David Wall, and in 2016 by James Moffat. From 2016 Polestar was no longer associated with the team and branding shifted to Cyan Racing (the former Polestar racing arm) and Volvo Dealer Racing.
The Volvo association ended at the close of 2016, with cars and engines returned to Sweden. McLaughlin won both races at the 2016 WD-40 Phillip Island SuperSprint and ultimately finished third in the drivers' championship.
In January 2017 GRM announced a return to Holden Commodores after Volvo's withdrawal. Garth Tander, who had been with the team from 1998 to 2004, returned to replace McLaughlin, who joined DJR Team Penske. The team scored a single podium at Phillip Island with Tander. Moffat left at the end of 2017 and was replaced by James Golding. In 2018 GRM ran ZB Commodores. Main sponsor Wilson Security withdrew at the end of 2018 and was replaced by Boost Mobile. Tander was dropped and replaced by Richie Stanaway, who was forced to withdraw from the final races due to a pre-existing neck injury sustained in a Formula 3 accident, with Chris Pither covering Winton and Darwin while Michael Caruso made a one-off return at Queensland Raceway.
In mid-October 2019 Garry Rogers announced GRM would not return to the Supercars grid for 2020, citing escalating costs and a model requiring them to purchase rather than develop parts. At the end of the season Richie Stanaway announced his retirement from motorsport, and James Golding moved to Charlie Schwerkolt's Team 18.
In 2019 GRM entered the TCR Australia Touring Car Series with one Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR and two Renault Mégane R.S TCR. Jimmy Vernon withdrew mid-series and was replaced by Jordan Cox. The team claimed seven podiums across Cox, James Moffat and Chris Pither. In 2020 the team was renamed Renault Sport GRM after increased sponsorship from Renault Australia, running three Renault Mégane R.S TCRs. GRM Customer Racing also fielded an Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce and a Peugeot 308 with Jordan Cox and Jason Bargwanna, while Team Valvoline GRM ran similar machinery with Michael Caruso and Aaron Cameron.
In 2002 GRM built and ran the Holden Monaro 427C at the Bathurst 24 Hour, after the Holden Racing Team reportedly declined the project. The car ran a GRM-developed version of the Chevrolet Corvette C5-R's 7.0-litre 427 cui motor — which had taken numerous class wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans — built by team engine builder Mike Excel. The car was nicknamed the "Nuclear banana" owing to its bright yellow livery and carried number 427.
Tander qualified second behind the N-GT Ferrari F360 driven by Brad Jones. After taking the lead from the John Bowe-driven Ferrari, the car suffered an early flat tyre and later needed its entire fuel cell replaced, dropping it thirteen laps behind the leading Cirtek Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 of David Brabham. A mid-race incident saw Nathan Pretty hit by a BMW 318i driven by Debbie Chapman in The Chase, jamming the gearbox; Pretty had to exit the car and rock it back and forth to clear the sequential transmission. By the 18-hour mark the Monaro had clawed back to second, three laps behind. The Porsche then lost a half-shaft, pitted for four laps, and the Monaro retook the lead. Allan Grice, driving the Porsche at maximum pace, hit the wall on top of the mountain while attempting to lap the Mosler MT900R and broke the Porsche's rear suspension; Darren Palmer subsequently hit the wall at Griffin's Bend with no steering. The Monaro — driven by Tander, Nathan Pretty, Steven Richards and Cameron McConville — led the final five hours to win by 24 laps from the British-entered Mosler of Martin Short. Tander's fastest race lap of 2:14.3267 was quicker than Brad Jones' pole time of 2:15.0742.
In 2003 GRM built a second car for Peter Brock. This second car won the 2003 Bathurst 24 Hour with Jason Bright, Todd Kelly and Greg Murphy sharing the driving with Brock. The 2002-winning car, driven by the same four drivers as the previous year, finished second — less than one second behind after 24 hours. Garry Rogers gave Murphy and Tander permission to race each other to the finish in the closing minutes, with orders not to take each other out. Tander set the race's fastest lap of 2:14.489 with three laps remaining; Murphy's corresponding lap was 2:14.499. Tander's final-lap lunge at Murray's Corner was thwarted by yellow flags. For Brock, the 2003 Bathurst 24 Hour was his last win at Mount Panorama.
The 2002 Bathurst 24 Hour race-winning Monaro currently resides at the National Motor Racing Museum at Mount Panorama in Bathurst.
In 2018 GRM built the first batch of S5000 single-seater race cars as part of a partnership with the newly created S5000 Australian Drivers' Championship. Aaron Cameron won the 2023 S5000 Australian Drivers' Championship driving for GRM.
Rogers has been noted as a talent spotter. Drivers who found their feet at GRM include Steven Richards, Jason Bargwanna, Garth Tander, Jamie Whincup, Lee Holdsworth and Scott McLaughlin. Many went on to become champions and Bathurst 1000 winners.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
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