Commentary

Supercars

Rogers opens up on Whincup sacking

More than 10 years on from sacking a rookie Jamie Whincup, V8 Supercar team owner Garry Rogers opens up about the one that got away.

Andrew van Leeuwen

Published: Apr 13, 2015, 1:32 AM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Jamie Whincup takes a shortcut after running wide

Jamie Whincup

Rookie Jamie Whincups future is in the balance according to rumours

Polesitter Jamie Whincup, Red Bull Holden celebrates

Jamie Whincup, Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden

Race winner Jamie Whincup, Red Bull Holden

Whincup made his full-time V8 Supercars with Rogers' team back in 2003, after winning the 2002 Australian Formula Ford Championship.

But the partnership lasted just a single year, with Rogers - renowned in Australia as a keen identifier of young talent - firing Whincup at season's end after a tough rookie campaign.

Whincup salvaged his career with a drive at Tasman Motorsport in 2005, before signing for Triple Eight the following year. He has since won six V8 titles with the Red Bull-backed squad.

Speaking to former driver and now TV talent Neil Crompton on Fox's Inside Supercars panel show, Rogers admitted that Whincup is a blot in his talent-spotting copybook.

"I get on really well with Jamie these days, I talk to him and there is no angst there at all," he told Crompton.

"The fact is he was just hopeless, not as a driver, but he just wouldn't listen.

"I, perhaps, should have been a little more patient, but that isn't one of my virtues. I should have sat him down, patted him on the head and told him what a good boy he was - but that's not me. This is how you do it, and if you're not prepared to do that you're gone, next.

"I'm not dirty on it. I could have kept him, I'm the one who got rid of him. He could have easily stayed I could have been reaping those benefits.

"But the fact is I mucked it up."

Rogers has previously fostered the careers of drivers such as Garth Tander, Cameron McConville, Michael Caruso, and Lee Holdsworth , and currently has promising Kiwi talent Scott McLaughlin on his books.

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article V8 drivers desperate for more rubber

Next article Pye: Potential is there, now we need to unlock it

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

The ten closest finishes from the 2026 NASCAR season

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup 1 h

The ten closest finishes from the 2026 NASCAR season

‘Lewis suspected a conspiracy’ – Nico Rosberg explains how Lewis Hamilton F1 rivalry went awry at Mercedes

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1 2 h

‘Lewis suspected a conspiracy’ – Nico Rosberg explains how Lewis Hamilton F1 rivalry went awry at Mercedes

BMW "proud of what we achieved" after securing runner-up in 2026 WEC

WEC

WEC WEC

Monza

3 h

BMW "proud of what we achieved" after securing runner-up in 2026 WEC

The numbers that reveal how sprint races have turned the MotoGP title fight upside down

MotoGP

MGP MotoGP

Qatar GP

5 h

The numbers that reveal how sprint races have turned the MotoGP title fight upside down

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts