Lansvale Smash Repairs iRacing tribute livery: Time for a Supercars legends race?

As a kid growing up watching the Shell Australian Touring Car Championship there are plenty of big names that dominated and starred during my childhood. Brock, Johnson, Seton, Longhurst – I mean, what an era.

Back in those days though, there were the big name factory teams, and there were “Privateers”. These were genuine weekend racers, working hard at their day-jobs during the week, wheeling out a race car on the weekend.

When I was in Year 5 and 6 at school, my best mate was Grant Ashby, son of Trevor Ashby who now on reflection stand out at easily one of the most amazing privateer race pairings in Australian motorsport.

The two had a successful business, Lansvale Smash Repairs in Sydney, and that name was painted proudly onto their race cars every single race.

Together, they hold the record for the longest running partnership at the Mount Panorama Bathurst 1000. 16 years together, something that will surely never be beaten. Their best result was 10th in 1987 but every year the gave it everything.

I can remember going to Oran Park with Trevor and Grant for a pre-Bathurst test session – my first real taste of “behind the scenes” motorsport, and I loved it.

Despite moving away to the country, I followed the team closely, tried to catch up with them at Bathurst whenever I was there.

But last week I was chatting with Steven Johnson on his Radio show on SEN last week, and suggested his Father Dick get behind the wheel of a Simulator.

Imagine Dick Johnson racing a Ford Mustang at the Mountain using iRacing as the Supercars drivers have been over the last few months!

Perhaps a driving pairing where the races are shared with the younger generation. Son Grant might share the wheel with Trevor Ashby:)

And this got me thinking – how could we make the cars look? Could we have retro liveries created for a Legends race, or a race dedicated to the Legends of our sport.

In my mind, Trevor Ashby and Steve Reed are legends of our sport, so I commissioned an iRacing paint scheme for the 2020 ZB Holden Commodore in the colours of the Lansvale Team.

I chose the 1994 livery, Autocolour Dulux down the side, and the famous splashes of colour all around.

I reckon it looks epic.

Sadly, I suck at iRacing, so I binned the Lansvale Smash Repairs ZB Commodore at the Chase, outbraking myself.

Fortunately, the team has the best crew in town, so I was back on track in no time:)

At the very least, if we don’t get a legends race – can one of the Supercars team adopt a Lansvale inspired livery for their retro round paint jobs when the Supercars do hit the track?

Shoutout to Mahone Design for an amazing job replicating a 1994 paint job onto a 2020 Race-car.

And if you’re wondering, I think the base design works well for any current day company. Here’s my EFTM take on the livery:

See you on the racetrack!