Lee Robert Holdsworth (born 2 February 1983) is a semi-retired Australian racing driver. He won the 2021 Bathurst 1000 alongside Chaz Mostert and finished his full-time career after the 2022 season, after nearly two decades of racing.
| Lee Holdsworth | |
|---|---|
 Lee Holdsworth in 2014 | |
| Nationality |  Australian |
| Born | 2 February 1983 (age 41) Melbourne, Victoria |
| Racing licence |  FIA Gold |
| Supercars Championship career | |
| Car number | 25 |
| Current team | Walkinshaw Andretti United |
| Championships | 0 |
| Races | 511 |
| Wins | 4 |
| Podiums | 19 |
| Pole positions | 4 |
| 2020 position | 11th (1553 pts) |
History
editEarly career
editLee Holdsworth's motorsport career began in go-karts. He started racing cars in 2001 at just 17, when he contested the Commodore Cup national series.
Holdsworth finished fifth in the 2002 Commodore Cup national series and third in the 2003 Commodore Cup championship,[1] before graduating to the Konica Minolta V8 Supercar Series in 2004, driving a Holden VX Commodore for Smiths Trucks Racing.
Holdsworth recorded some impressive results in 2004, including finishing his first-ever round in the top-10 and winning the reverse-grid race at Eastern Creek, as well as finishing third overall in Queensland. Holdsworth also contested the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000 V8 Supercar endurance races with Phillip Scifleet and Mark Noske respectively.
In 2005, Holdsworth ran a limited campaign in the renamed HPDC V8 Supercar Development Series and the Australian Formula Ford Championship, as well as contesting the two endurance races with Garry Rogers Motorsport.
Supercars Championship
editHoldsworth's big break came in 2006 when he scored a full-time drive with Garry Rogers Motorsport in the V8 Supercar Championship. In 2007, Holdsworth won his first V8 Supercar round at Oran Park. The win came courtesy of consistent driving over the weekend and a good strategy in the final race in changeable conditions.[2]
In 2008 Holdsworth began working with The John Bowe Institute of Driving, helping to teach the techniques of performance driving to the public.[citation needed].
Holdsworth moved to Stone Brothers Racing for the 2012 V8 Supercars Championship, ending a six-year association with Garry Rogers Motorsport.[3] For 2013, the team was bought by Erebus Motorsport, and ran Mercedes-Benz E63 AMGs. Holdsworth scored the team's first race win at Winton in April 2014.[4]
In 2015, Holdsworth moved to Team 18, who operated as a satellite team to the Holden Racing Team. Holdsworth won the 2015 Drivers' Driver award at the 2015 V8 Gala awards.
In 2016, the team was rebranded to Team 18. They also became an independent team, racing a Triple Eight-built Commodore. During Race 13 of the season at the Darwin Triple Crown, Holdsworth sustained fractures to his pelvis, right knee and 2 ribs after an incident on the opening lap. For the next 2 events, Kurt Kostecki substituted for Holdsworth in a spare chassis before the team were able to obtain a brand-new car from Triple Eight. At the Sydney SuperSprint, Holdsworth was still unfit to race, so Enduro Cup driver Karl Reindler drove the car for the event before returning as a co-driver at the Sandown 500 with Holdsworth competing in his first race since his accident. In 2017, Holdsworth continued with Team 18 and finished the season in 16th place with a best finish of 4th place being recorded at the Newcastle 500.
For 2018, Holdsworth will continue with the team and race the new Holden ZB Commodore.
In 2019, Holdsworth rejuvenated his career by signing a multiple year deal to drive for Tickford Racing in the #5 Ford Mustang. In two years with the team, he finished 10th in 2019 and 11th in 2020 points standings before mutually departing Tickford in favour of Jack Le Brocq.
On December 5, 2021 Holdsworth won his first Bathurst 1000, driving alongside Chaz Mostert in the #25 Holden Commodore for Walkinshaw Andretti United.
In his final year of racing, Holdsworth was awarded the Barry Sheene Medal, the first time he had received the award in his career. [5]
Retirement
editOn 30 August 2022, Holdsworth announced that he would retire from full-time competition at the end of the 2022 season. He stated that he desired to spend more time with his family, while also pursuing a career as a real estate agent. He plans though to return as co-driver for endurance events in the future. [6]
Career results
editCareer summary
editSupercars Championship results
editComplete Bathurst 1000 results
edit| Year | Team | Car | Co-driver | Position | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Smiths Trucks Racing | Holden Commodore VY | Mark Noske
|
DNF | 59 |
| 2005 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Holden Commodore VZ | Phillip Scifleet
|
DNF | 136 |
| 2006 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Holden Commodore VZ | Dean Canto
|
17th | 129 |
| 2007 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Holden Commodore VE | Dean Canto
|
DNF | 118 |
| 2008 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Holden Commodore VE | Michael Caruso
|
DNF | 139 |
| 2009 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Holden Commodore VE | Michael Caruso
|
3rd | 161 |
| 2010 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Holden Commodore VE | David Besnard
|
7th | 161 |
| 2011 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Holden Commodore VE | Greg Ritter
|
17th | 161 |
| 2012 | Stone Brothers Racing | Ford Falcon FG |  Craig Baird
|
8th | 161 |
| 2013 | Erebus Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG | Craig Baird
|
14th | 161 |
| 2014 | Erebus Motorsport | Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG | Craig Baird
|
DNF | 132 |
| 2015 | Charlie Schwerkolt Racing | Holden Commodore VF |  Sébastien Bourdais
|
9th | 161 |
| 2016 | Charlie Schwerkolt Racing | Holden Commodore VF | Karl Reindler
|
DNF | 2 |
| 2017 | Charlie Schwerkolt Racing | Holden Commodore VF | Karl Reindler
|
DNF | 76 |
| 2018 | Charlie Schwerkolt Racing | Holden Commodore ZB | Jason Bright
|
21st | 157 |
| 2019 | Tickford Racing | Ford Mustang S550 | Thomas Randle
|
9th | 161 |
| 2020 | Tickford Racing | Ford Mustang S550 | Michael Caruso
|
7th | 161 |
| 2021 | Walkinshaw Andretti United | Holden Commodore ZB | Chaz Mostert
|
1st | 161 |
| 2022 | Grove Racing | Ford Mustang S550 | Matthew Payne
|
6th | 161 |
| 2023 | Walkinshaw Andretti United | Ford Mustang S650 | Chaz Mostert
|
4th | 161 |
| 2024 | Walkinshaw Andretti United | Ford Mustang S650 | Chaz Mostert
|
5th | 161 |
TCR Australia results
edit| TCR Australia results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | Position | Points | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | Ashley Seward Motorsport | Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR | SYM R1 1 |
SYM R2 2 |
SYM R3 3 |
PHI R4 3 |
PHI R5 16 |
PHI R6 19 |
BAT R7 5 |
BAT R8 6 |
BAT R9 Ret |
SMP R10 8 |
SMP R11 8 |
SMP R12 16 |
BAT R13 WD |
BAT R14 WD |
BAT R15 WD |
315 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
References
edit- ^ Official Lee Holdsworth website - My Bio Archived 6 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Greenhalgh, David; Howard, Graham; Wilson, Stewart (2011). The official history: Australian Touring Car Championship - 50 Years. St Leonards, New South Wales: Chevron Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-9805912-2-4.
- ^ Weeks, James (26 October 2011). "Holdsworth signs with Stone Brothers for 2012". motorstv.com. Motors TV. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
- ^ "Holdsworth hands Erebus maiden V8 Supercars win". SpeedCafe. 5 April 2014. Archived from the original on 5 April 2014. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
- ^ "Holdsworth wins Barry Sheene Medal". Supercars. 5 December 2022. Archived from the original on 5 December 2022. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
- ^ "Holdsworth announces shock retirement". Supercars. 30 August 2022. Archived from the original on 25 November 2022. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
External links
edit- Lee Holdsworth Profile
- Profile at Racing Reference
- Lee Holdsworth career summary at DriverDB.com