TICKFORD Racing has undergone several ownership changes across its two-plus decade existence.
The team was created in 2003 as Ford Performance Racing, born out of – but not carrying on the history of – Glenn Seton Racing.
The initial owner of that team was British racing and engineering firm Prodrive.
It was one half of a wider deal, in which Prodrive purchased Tickford and formalised its local Ford performance car arm with a joint venture with Ford Australia, creating the Ford Performance Vehicles brand.
Unlike the road car operation, Ford Australia had no ownership in FPR, with Supercars rules preventing car manufacturers from having any ownership stake in a team.
David Richards. Pic: an1images.com / Justin Deeley
FPR continued under this ownership structure for a decade, until shifts in the automotive landscape triggered a change in ownership.
An internal review of the road car partnership in 2012 prompted Ford to buy out Prodrive’s 51 percent stake in FPV and bring it in-house, before eventually shuttering the brand in 2014 amid the end of Ford’s manufacturing operations.
This led to Prodrive selling its Supercars team at the end of the year, with confirmation in early January that longtime racing identities Rod Nash and Rusty French had purchased the team.
Nash’s first involvement with the squad went back to its inaugural season, when he leased his Racing Entitlements Contract to FPR so it could field a third car.
Rod Nash watches on moments before Paul Dumbrell secures RNR’s maiden pole position at Sandown in 2010. Pic: an1images.com / Justin Deeley
He returned to FPR in 2010, striking a deal whereby the team fielded a third entry under the Rod Nash Racing banner.
In early 2015, Nash and French were joined in the ownership group by lawyer and racer Sven Burchartz.
Burchartz had first come into contact with FPR amid David Reynolds’ contentious shift from Kelly Racing for 2012. At the end of that year, Nash contacted him to help with their purchase of the team.
He was then invited to sit on the team’s advisory board, and that eventually led to an opportunity to take a slice of the ownership pie.
Sven Burchartz at Albert Park earlier this year. Pic: Mark Walker
Despite the ownership changes, the team carried on under the Ford Performance Racing name until the death of the FPV brand in 2014.
It then operated under the team’s registered business name, Prodrive Racing Australia, under a licensing arrangement with original owners Prodrive from 2015 to 2017.
However, in a move to diversify, Nash and Burchartz resurrected the Tickford brand for a road car enhancement business in 2016 and the race team was rebranded to match in 2018.
The next significant ownership change came in 2022 when French sold out of the team.
His departure left Nash and Burchartz as its sole shareholders, with the former holding the majority stake.
Today’s announcement sees private equity concern Prime Financial Group, via its sub-business Altor Capital, take a controlling interest in the team.
While Burchartz departs the team’s ownership group with the sale, Nash remains as a shareholder.