Injured Supercars driver Richie Stanaway's ongoing absence with a neck complaint is starting to get to team boss Garry Rogers.
The 27-year-old New Zealander has been sidelined since aggravating the problem in the first race of the Winton SuperSprint in May.
Endurance partner Chris Pither got behind the wheel of Stanaway's Commodore for the second race at Winton before filling in across the weekend at recent Darwin Triple Crown.
Stanaway has been ruled out of next weekend's Townsville 400, forcing Rogers to seek special dispensation from Tickford Racing to draft in their endurance driver Michael Caruso for the event.
"It is frustrating for the team having to bridge the gap until Stanaway is healthy enough to resume his full-time driving," Rogers said.
"I am conscious of the complexities of Richie's injury. After speaking to the expert medical people this is more than a stiff joint.
"I am grateful to Tickford Racing for allowing Robbo to take the seat at GRM."
Caruso, who will partner Tickford's Cameron Waters in this year's endurance races, began his fulltime Supercars career with GRM in 2008.
During his time under Rogers the 36-year-old claimed his maiden Supercars race win at Darwin in 2009 and partnered with Lee Holdsworth for a third-place finish at Bathurst the same year.
"Personally, it's going to be great to get more laps in ahead of the endurance races," Caruso said.
"I haven't raced since the final round at Newcastle last year, but I'm sure it won't take long for me to get my head back into race mode.
"It's a shame that Richie is continuing to struggle with his injury, so I'm aiming to do my best for the team and bring home some decent teams points."
Australian Associated Press
