Fuelling a legend: GRM VT02
For nearly 26 years, Garry Rogers Motorsport VT02 has sat dormant in the team’s Dandenong workshop, in the exact condition that it left the track in November 2000. With GRM returning to The Great Race in 2026 after a four year absence, the team is giving this iconic car a long awaited birthday, celebrating the memory of the late, larger than life figure whose name sits proudly in Australian motorsport still to this day.
To reduce Garry Rogers legacy to one of just team ownership would be disrespectful to the incredible life he lived, and the environment that he cultivated within his team. Some of the greatest drivers to grace the Supercars championship cut their teeth under Garry’s stewardship, and his passing last year was met with widespread mourning from the Australian motorsport community.
The 2000 Bathurst 1000 was one of his team’s finest achievements, a great victory in what was one of the most attrition filled battles in the 1000’s history, with Jason Bargwanna and Garth Tander crossing the finish line first after 7 hours and 23 minutes of racing, the third longest 1000 in history. The mountain threw everything at competitors that day, with pouring rain, 13 safety car interventions and controversial lapped car incidents, all amidst the backdrop of an unlikely championship battle that involved one of the pilots of VT02 that day.
Not only were Bargwanna and Tander hunting for a great race victory, Tander was also right in the fight for the overall championship, with the November running of the 1000 also being the 13th and final round of the 2000 championship. Tander narrowly missed out on the title that day to Mark Skaife, who finished sixth, despite a terrible day for the Holden superstar, but 2nd in the championship in only his second full-time season in Supercars would be a teaser for a career that saw 58 race wins, one championship and five more Bathurst victories before retirement last year.
Their Holden VT Commodore, chassis VT02, was the second VT Commodore built by the team, and debuted with Tander at the wheel midway through the 1999 season. Its short-lived racing career spanned a year and a half, totalling three pole positions, three race wins, three round wins and the Bathurst triumph, an incredible tally in the era dominated by the Holden Racing Team. VT02 followed Supercar building conventions of the day, with a hand built five litre Holden V8, MoTeC electronics, a Hollinger six speed gearbox and a nine inch rear diff.
Feeding the five litre V8 was two Bosch Motorsport 044 fuel pumps and a set of Bosch Motorsport injectors, providing the team with consistent, reliable fuel delivery built to withstand the strain that such gruelling 2000 edition of the Bathurst 1000 put it under.
GRM’s long time engine builder, Geoff Marshall, worked on VT02 in 2000 in his early days at GRM, and 26 years later he still swears by the Bosch Motorsport products that powered this engine.
“This car was fitted with Bosch fuel pumps, sensors, pressure regulators, everything, because at the time, and still to this day, they’re the most reliable parts you can fit to your car. The best part of a Bosch fuel system is its reliability, because that’s what gets you to the end of the race.“
.jpg)
VT02 rolled straight off the track in an unwashed, untouched condition, to be displayed in the team’s workshop. Rogers himself made a personal point to keep the car totally unwashed, and that is the way it has stayed. The car has made a handful of public appearances in this time; however, it hasn’t run since that great day in November 2000. That is about to change.
GRM returns to the mountain this year with James Moffat and Nathan Herne behind the wheel of an ex-Triple Eight Camaro, last piloted by Will Brown. The Camaro will carry a livery that pays tribute to the 2000 winner, with Valvoline and Repco jumping on board to back the car, just like they did in 2000. The return to the mountain has prompted the team to restore VT02 to a running state, to cut laps of the mountain over the weekend.
This is where Bosch Motorsport has stepped in to help. Whilst the iconic 044 pump may be discontinued, our ‘200’ pump is a more than worthy replacement, flowing 10% higher at 7 bar of pressure, weighing 15% less than its predecessor, and was designed with a stronger and more efficient internal mechanism, giving you the peace of mind that our trusted reliability is still there in the modern era.
The ‘200’ is also provided with fittings to drop straight into an existing 044 install, which is exactly what Marshall did when restoring the fuel lines that had sat dormant for almost 26 years.
We’re incredibly proud and honoured to have had the opportunity to help GRM bring such an iconic car back to life, and we wish them the best as they take on the Bathurst 1000. If you’re interested in our range of fuel pumps for your own vehicle, head to our shop to find your perfect fit today.