Sprint Gas reveals Murf's new machine.

Sprint Gas Racing is the first to admit that it's new VE Holden is not an evolution when it comes to car build, it's a revolution, as never in the Tasman Motorsport-run team's five-year existence has it gone to so much effort to develop such a different machine.

With Jason Richards' new Holden due at Sandown, the team revealed a radical new livery as it pulled the cover off Greg Murphy's 2008-spec VE, the result of a team of five, all based at Tasman's Dandenong manufacturing plant, spending five months building the new cars in a custom-made factory.

"Dandenong has been set up to do all Tasman manufacturing," team boss Jeff Grech said, "This time last year, we had none of our own equipment. When it came to building new cars, we had to outsource, and we also had to test our engines on someone else's equipment. This has all changed.

"The team's endured a lot in such a short amount of time. If you had the time and the budget, you'd certainly do what we've done over twelve months, perhaps two years. The reason that we've achieved what we have is not about budget, but about the passion of the people that have been involved. They've put in a lot, but we expected a lot. It's certainly the product of a lot of good people. With the ability to build our own cars and to develop our own engines, we have absolute control over our own destiny."

The new Sprint Gas Holdens are completely different to the 2007 cars.

"There's not a thing on, or in, the car that is carried over from the old car other than the front upright," Grech revealed, "We're not just talking about a completely different body shell, we're talking about everything that goes onto the body shell also.

"It's not been an evolution, it's been a revolution. This is a revolutionary car as far as Tasman Motorsport is concerned. It couldn't be more different. It includes a lot of input from a lot of our personnel that have background with many championship-winning car builds, combined with some fresh thinking."

The most significant change is the ability to better engineer the car for the driver so that changes are tangible.

"In the old car, when we made changes, the drivers had difficulty in feeling any difference, so we've improved this significantly," Grech said, "During the [recent Winton] test, pretty much every change we made Greg could feel. This will enable us to better engineer the car and make it faster and more competitive."

With a lot of work still to be done, the team acknowledges that there is huge potential with the new car.

"The sky is the limit when it comes to potential, but how long it will take to reach its potential is the critical question, it could take four rounds it may take longer," Grech continued, "It'll take a while to work out what the car will and won't like. Remember, we're starting with a blank page, and gains made through adjustability could take months.

"We hope we'll find ultimate potential sooner rather than later but, who knows, with this car we're all pioneers. It's a cautious approach, that's for sure."

With the Hamilton round approaching, the first goal is to finish.

"In New Zealand, I want to achieve reliability and finish - if we can do this, I'll be satisfied," Grech admitted, "Firstly though, we need to tune the car. We've got no useable data because the car is so different from last years. It'll be a challenge for the drivers and the engineers. In some ways, though, it's good to debut the car at a first time event. We're all learning together."