THE first Garry Rogers Motorsport Commodore raced by Scott McLaughlin that also gave Michael Caruso his breakthrough V8 Supercar win in Darwin and finished on the podium in that year’s Bathurst 1000 has been confirmed as a starter in the Holden Bathurst Revival as part of the inaugural Bathurst International this November.
The ex-GRM Commodore VE – chassis VE 11 – was used by Caruso to score his first V8 Supercar Championship race win at Darwin in 2009 and he paired with Lee Holdsworth in this car in a modified Valvoline livery to finish third the same year at Bathurst.
Caruso spoke about his 2009 Darwin win and Bathurst podium finish here in our latest V8 Sleuth Podcast Powered By Timken.
The car, which is being restored to its former Fujitsu guise how it raced in Caruso’s hands in 2010, is also the very same chassis that McLaughlin drove in the final race of 2012 in Sydney after regular driver Alex Premat had fallen ill mid-race the previous day.
The Sydney 2012 race marked McLaughlin’s first ‘main game’ start with GRM prior to him joining the next season and driving full-time for the team from 2013 to 2016.
The VE11 chassis served as GRM’s spare in 2011 and 2012, though was called upon in both years. Caruso drove it for a selection of rounds in 2011 and it was pressed back into action for Premat in Abu Dhabi 2012 after American Ricky Taylor’s roll over weeks earlier on the Gold Coast in Premat’s previous chassis (the Frenchman had been benched that weekend as primary driver in car #33 in favour of Greg Ritter).
The car later competed in the V8 Development Series with James Golding and Chelsea Angelo both making their series debuts in this chassis.
The car will be driven at Bathurst in November by new owner Terry Hamilton, who says he is looking forward to getting the car match fit for its Bathurst return.
“I’ve had the car less than 12 months, so I’m in the process of putting in the Fujitsu colours from 2010,” he says.
“I’ve raced this car three or four times in Sports Sedans, but I’ve never had the chance to run it at Bathurst.
“The Holden Bathurst Revival is the ideal opportunity to drive the car in anger without having to stress about finding that last tenth of a second.
“Also, it’s a great chance to get out there and have some fun, so I’m really looking forward to it.”
The Holden Bathurst Revival will pay tribute to all eras of the ‘The General’s’ motorsport history, from competition variants of the first ever Holden model – the 48-215 – through to modern V8 touring cars.
Eligibility extends to Holdens from almost every circuit racing category that the marque has been represented in, including grass roots categories Group N and Improved Production/Club Cars, as well as series no longer contested such as V8 Utes, Commodore Cup and Future Tourers.
The Holden Bathurst Revival will be one of many classes competing at the Bathurst International, including TCR Australia, S5000, Touring Car Masters and the production cars, competing for the Hi-Tec Oils Bathurst 6 Hour.
The four-day event will run on November 12-15, 2020.
For information on how to enter your Holden racer in the Holden Bathurst Revival, email events@australianracinggroup.com for more details.
