REPCO will celebrate a popular ‘Great Race’ victory in their special display marking the company’s 100th anniversary at this year’s Repco Bathurst 1000.
The 2000 edition of the race was won by a car bearing sponsorship from Repco, which joined Garry Rogers Motorsport early in the season as a co-sponsor alongside Valvoline.
GRM and drivers Garth Tander and Jason Bargwanna won that year’s Mount Panorama enduro, and the Holden Commodore that they drove to victory will form part of the ‘Repco in Motorsport’ exhibition at the National Motor Racing Museum as the company continues to celebrate its 100th anniversary.
Chassis GRM VT02 was the second VT Commodore built by GRM and entrusted to rising star Garth Tander midway through the 1999 season.
Tander used the car into the 2000 season, where he emerged as the main contender to eventual series champion Mark Skaife.
While he missed out on the title, Tander and teammate Jason Bargwanna used GRM VT02 to snatch V8 Supercars’ other crown jewel.
The 2000 FAI 1000 was a gruelling affair, lasting well over seven hours as persistent rain made for one of the wettest editions of the ‘Great Race’ on record.
The GRM duo were among the chief contenders throughout the race and, though they led only 17 of the 161 laps, they claimed the lead with 10 laps to go to take a popular victory.
The car’s greatest success came in its final race. Rogers retained GRM VT02 and has had it on display in the team’s Dandenong workshop as well as at the National Motor Racing Museum in the two decades since its ‘Great Race’ victory, while it also participated in the parade of cars marking Rogers’ 70th birthday at Queensland Raceway in 2015.
GRM VT02 is the latest car to be announced for the ‘Repco in Motorsport’ exhibition with more to be revealed in the lead up to this year’s Repco Bathurst 1000, held on October 6-9, 2022.
