Lansvale Racing Bathurst preview

September 24, 2001 - The Lansvale Racing Team is ready for their most competitive performance yet at Australia's most famous motor race - the Bathurst V8 Supercar 1000 on October 7.

Team owners and drivers Trevor Ashby and Steve Reed continue their record setting Bathurst co-driving record at this year's Bathurst enduro which will be the Sydney drivers' 16th one thousand kilometre race at the world famous Mount Panorama circuit.

Ashby and Reed are eager to compete again at Bathurst, as the 2001 season was the first Shell Championship Series that they have sat out as drivers since 1986. Instead, they took on the role of team owners supporting their appointed 2001 season driver, Cameron McConville. This has made the two 51 year olds eager to strap back into one of their Holden Commodore V8 Supercars for a 16th tilt at Australia's most sought after motor racing victory.

Reed, who will celebrate his 51st birthday on the Saturday before the race, believes that Bathurst is not just another race, it represents the pinnacle of Australian motorsport. "The pinnacle of the motor racing year is and has always been the Bathurst 1000. It takes a full year's effort to get the car right for this race - to ensure that you are able to push hard while preserving the car for the long day ahead. Bathurst has changed from a long distance race to a long distance sprint in recent years. The circuit is tight and challenging and you are up against it all at Mount Panorama - that 's why I love it so much," Reed said.

Reed's long term team mate is as eager to race in 2001 as he was when they debuted their self prepared Holden VK Commodore at Bathurst in 1986. "It feels like yesterday since my first Bathurst - I really don't feel that old!" Ashby said. "Racing at our 16th consecutive Bathurst with Steve will have the same excitement as the first time we raced there. Bathurst is a special place from any driver's point of view and it is very rewarding to finish this grueling race strongly," He added.

Ashby and Reed's most memorable Bathurst 1000 was in 1987, when a major accident completely destroyed their car during Thursday practice. The team set about a non-stop 48 hour complete re-build of the car back at the Lansvale Smash Repairs workshop in suburban Sydney - the business that they established together in 1974. Ashby and Reed just made it to the rear of the race grid by the Sunday morning and powered their way to 10th overall after a monumental effort by the close-knit team.

The best starting position for Ashby & Reed at Bathurst was 14th in both 1992 and 1994. They have qualified in the top 20 nine times out of 15 starts. Ashby and Reed also sit at the very top of the list of Bathurst drives for the same manufacturer, Holden, in all of their Bathurst starts to date.

There is added impetus to the Lansvale Racing Team's 2001 Bathurst campaign, with 1999 Bathurst 1000 runner up and Lansvale Racing Team lead driver Cameron McConville paired with four time Bathurst production car class Champion Rick Bates. They will debut the team's first fully in house built V8 Supercar when the team's new VX Commodore hits the track at Mount Panorama next month.

-LRT-