Privateers were the backbone of the Australian Touring Car Championship until the sport went fully professional in the early 2000s leading to licences and a restricted grid, but one team heading into this new era was the Lansvale Racing Team.
Formed in 1986, the Lansvale Racing Team was led by business partners Steve Reed and Trevor Ashby, who both raced Holden Commodores in the ATCC.
The Lansvale Racing Team was the leading privateer squad through the 1990s, with Reed and Ashby sharing the duties in the Dulux Autocolor Commodore.
Based in Sydney, the team punched above its weight consistently and featured legendary engineer Wally Storey at various times during its stint in the ATCC.
Professionalism was significantly raised during the late-1990s and was being pushed by Tony Cochrane, now heading up the rebranded V8 Supercars Championship.
Three levels of licences were introduced for teams based on participation and were gradually reduced to one by the early-2000s to weed out the smaller privateer teams.
It occurred and Lansvale was the last remaining privateer teams when the 2003 V8 Supercars Championship season began.
It wasn’t by the start of 2004.
A pair of New Zealanders, Greg Murphy’s father Kevin and the late Tim Miles, formed Tasman Motorsport from the base of Lansvale.
Reed and Ashby continued to be onboard for Tasman’s start, but it marked a close to the privateer aspect of V8 Supercars.
Jason Richards and ex-Ford Performance Racing general manager Jon Matthews were recruited to join Storey.
Richards drove the single Holden Commodore for the team starting in the older VX and moving into the current VY at Oran Park’s Round 8.
The team also gave Fabian Coulthard his Supercars debut at Oran Park also.
Tasman Motorsport expanded to two entries for 2005 and proved a consistent midfield team until its closure in 2009.