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Barry Rogers hails successful inaugural GRM Combine
Garry Rogers Motorsport Director Barry Rogers has hailed a successful GRM Combine – Driven by Marcos Ambrose after the completion of the fifth and final day.
Held across Tasmania’s two circuits – Symmons Plains and Baskerville – the combine led by two-time Supercars champion and NASCAR star Ambrose consisted of six participants of varying experience sampled GRM’s Supercheap Auto TCR Australia, Turtle Wax Trans Am Series and S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship entries.
Additional guidance was also provided by GRM drivers James Moffat, Dylan O’Keeffe and James Golding.
National Formula Ford racer Winston Smith, Victorian Hyundai Excel drivers Harry Tomkins and Mason Kelly, local rising star Campbell Logan, Aussie Racing Cars competitor Kody Garland and runner up in last year’s Turtle Wax Trans Am Series title Edan Thornburrow were the inaugural Combine participants.
Rogers declared the Combine a success as he enjoyed witnessing the progress made by each of the six drivers during the program.
“It’s been great,” said Rogers.
“We started the week with six young drivers, who all have varying degrees of experience in racing and to watch where they were on Monday to where they’ve ended up today after spending time in real race cars at two different circuits, they’ve done an amazing job.
“I think they will enter their respective seasons with a lot of confidence.”
Rogers lauded Ambrose for his leadership throughout the week and the rapid progression the six drivers made.
“I look at it and see what Marcos has done with these guys this week with his enthusiasm for them, his care as well,” Rogers emphasised.
“To have a guy like that to just really, really want to help young people is a credit to him.
“I could see the smile on his face get bigger and bigger each day as they achieved things that maybe on Monday you might have thought possible.
“It was very, very satisfying watching it all unfold.”
Following a successful maiden GRM Combine, Rogers was very positive regarding its continuation and its location in Tasmania as he thanked the state government for its continued support.
“We’ll certainly have a debrief when we get back to the GRM workshop,” Rogers explained.
“Certainly, if you asked whether it was likely we’d do another combine, I’d say very, very likely that we’ll look to continue this in the future.
“Tasmania is the ideal place to come down here for a couple of reasons; you’ve got the two tracks down here not far from each other and totally different, it’s also nice to go to circuits where none of the drivers have been, though we did have local driver Campbell Logan and Edan Thornburrow, who raced Trans Am at both tracks last year.
“We’ve got strong support from Motorsport Tasmania and the Tasmanian Government has helped us out with it.”
GRM will return to Tasmania in early February for the first major motorsport event for 2022, the second-running of Race Tasmania, to be held at Symmons Plains Raceway on February 11-13.