MOTORSPORT: TCR drivers who under-perform will sit on sidelines

Teak-tough team boss Garry Rogers is using football coaching tactics to shake up the carsales TCR Australia Series driver line-up.

Rogers has benched Jimmy Vernon after a series of mistakes by the youngster in his Alfa Romeo Giulietta, poaching last-round stand-out Jordan Cox from Honda as the championship moves to Queensland Raceway this weekend.

He makes no apologies for the change and says it is commonplace in many other sports including AFL.

“If a football player fails to perform they get dropped. Why should motorsport be any different,” Rogers told carsales.

“A little bit of the excitement in motorsport is that sometimes there is inexperience that comes into play. Just not all the time.

“Jimmy guy can drive, there is no doubt. I can accept the crashes and things that happen in the heat of battle. But he has consistently done that.”

The veteran team owner is well known in the Supercars pitlane for his tough tactics and is remembered as the boss who fired Jamie Whincup from his Holden Commodore squad, leading to Whincup's move to Triple Eight Race Engineering and his seven touring car championship successes under Roland Dane.

But Rogers has also required many of his young drivers to work at menial tasks in his business while racing, including former Bathurst winners Garth Tander and Jason Bargwanna who drove the delivery van and worked in the spare-parts department at his car dealership.

On the flip-side, Rogers has a history of giving breaks to young drivers and has groomed many of the current Supercars front-runners including Lee Holdsworth. This time around, Rogers says Vernon will be back after one meeting out of the cockpit.

“After getting involved in a few incidents, we felt it best to give him a round on the sidelines to take a breath and really think about how he goes about his racing and how much he really wants to do it,” he says.

“We expect that the break will do Jimmy the world of good and he’ll be back behind the wheel at Winton for round five.”

Paul Gover from carsales speaks to Garry Rogers

Rogers chose Cox, an internet racing sensation who also ran at the front in his TCR debut in a Honda Civic Type R, after seeing him in action at Tailem Bend.

“We have been watching Jordan for several years and he is very impressive in a front-wheel drive car,” Rogers says.

“We obviously have several cars on the horizon for 2020 and there will be drives available, so it’s a good opportunity to assess possible candidates.

“For us, a driver’s ability is very important, but even more so is how they integrate with the team and their work ethic and attitude.”

The Cox move comes with several other changes for the Queensland leg of the TCR series.

Garth Tander is definitely out, leaving a spot in a race winning Audi RS3, while New Zealand’s reigning Formula Ford champion, Jordan Michels, will take Cox’s place in the Honda at Wall Racing.

The 21-year-old, from Invercargill, will suit up alongside race winners Tony D’Alberto and John Martin.

“It’s very exciting. It’s all a bit last minute, but I’m genuinely looking forward to the weekend,” says Michels.

“The amount of hype around the category has been unreal, so to have an opportunity to be on the grid is just amazing.

“I’ve done a couple of races in a Hyundai TCR in New Zealand, so I have a few miles in a TCR car, but they were different circumstances, completely different tyre, so this weekend will still be a steep learning curve.”