Above: The fastest team in the land … Pakenham’s Tom Rogers (bottom right) joins his Toll Holden teammates in celebration after V8 Supercar star Rick Kelly won the Australian title in controversial circumstances at Phillip Island on Sunday.By Brad Kingsbury
PAKENHAM mechanic Tom Rogers achieved a lifelong dream when V8 Supercar young gun Rick Kelly crossed the finish line in 18th place at Phillip Island on Sunday.
Kelly, 23, finished in front of his only rival for the 2007 Australian V8 title – Craig Lowndes – and in doing so won the coveted crown for the first time in his short career.
Rogers, who became Kelly’s head mechanic this season at the age of 26, had a major influence in the setup of the winning race car and took great pride in the season victory, which was also the first in which he has been involved.
“I’m rapt – the whole team is,” he said.
“It was a lot of work but also a lot of fun too. We all love racing and when the result goes your way you take it.”
Rogers started as a mechanic with the then Kmart Racing Team in 2002 as a member of the support crew, and has worked his way up to be the main man on Kelly’s car, which was sponsored this year by Toll.
Tension was high at the Phillip Island circuit all weekend, with the title result hinging on the final race of the day after Ford ace Craig Lowndes drew level with Kelly on points in the secondlast event.
Controversy reigned after Holden driver Kelly shunted Lowndes into his brother Todd Kelly’s car early in the race and incurred a drivethrough penalty, but he still finished four laps ahead of Lowndes, whose car was damaged by another vehicle in the incident.
Kelly was crowned the series winner afterwards, but the Ford team lodged an appeal and the final result – a Kelly win – was not declared until Monday afternoon.
Rogers said the appeal did not stop the Toll Holden team celebrating its triumphant season on Sunday night, but the uncertainty of the final outcome was not ideal.
“We had a celebration, but not knowing the result put a dampener on everything, really,” he said.
“We didn’t know until (Monday) and then we were back at work and haven’t had time to take it all in.”
Competition within the team was a benefit overall, with Rogers saying the crew working on each of the team’s two cars wanted to be the best.
“We had the same 15 (man team) as last year and everyone gets along really well,” he said.
“That’s important when you are together on the road as much as we are.
“It’s a challenge when you know the other teams are working hard for the same result, but there’s a bit of rivalry among our cars.”
A point of contention in Kelly’s title victory was the fact that he did not win a single round in the series, but was still able to take the championship after driving a reliable car throughout the year.
Much of the credit for that goes to Rogers and his team for preparing a consistently fast car over the 13round series, which started in March.
Rogers said his only disappointment for the season was Kelly’s second place to Lowndes at Bathurst, and the team was keener than ever to atone for that next year.
“It just rips your heart out to get that close and lose, but it makes you keener than ever to get back and win it,” Rogers said.
He has already started building two new cars for next season and intends to improve on this year’s result, which spells trouble for all the number one V8 Supercar team’s rivals.
