Development of the new CAMS Australian S5000 Championship cars are now in the hands of Garry Rogers Motorsport (GRM), after a successful handover session.

Initially developed and built by Borland Racing Developments, the first S5000 to arrive on Australian shores was given to the Supercars team after their technical leadership on the category earlier was announced this month.

The handover was the first full-on test the S5000 has endured with former national champion Tim Macrow testing the car throughout the day. 

With the testing focused on the new production components to be utilised in the first batch of cars, GRM’s Barry Rogers was pleased with the successful transition.

“Today was all about an official hand over from Borland Racing Developments, and it has been a seamless transition,” Rogers said. 

“Mike Borland brought the car up here to Winton and we are taking it back to our race shop in Dandenong.

“Moving forward, Michael will stay involved in the project. His experience and what he has done is quite incredible, and with our big workforce at GRM, we will be able to take the production of the components for the 14 cars to the next level.

“The motivation behind the test was for a smooth hand over, and that’s how it all played out. Tim Macrow completed enough laps to give our engineers an idea of what we need to know and what these cars require.

“Since announcing our technical lead on the category two weeks ago, a lot has happened already. We’ve had a number of phone hook-ups with chassis builder Onroak, and the first four tubs are not far away from being sea freighted. 

“We have the jigs, drawings and all the facility to make the fabricated parts. It’s a big project to coordinate with all of the various inputs, but one we’re really looking forward to.”

As GRM awaits the arrival of a further 13 Onroak-Ligier chassis, Category Manager Chris Lambden was also impressed with the test ahead of the inaugural season.

“This is the first real test day we’ve been able to schedule since the launch of the car, so its both a great opportunity to do some basic set-up work on the car, some durability running, as well as introducing it to the engineering guys at GRM,” Lambden said.

“They’re going to busy people at GRM as the construction of the first cars comes together, and this is a great day for them to get a full understanding of the car.”

Interested parties can enquire about leasing or purchasing the vehicle for its inaugural six-round season to Garry Rogers Motorsport on +61 3 9793 6933.

The CAMS Australian S5000 Championship will make its competitive debut as part of the Shannons Nationals’ opening round at Sydney Motorsport Park on 17-19 May.

Click here for more information on 2019 Championship.