[V8SC] Lee Holdsworth column

by Lee Holdsworth



The Top End of Australia

Next stop …. Darwin, and what a relief it was to finally arrive where the sun is shining and it’s nice and warm! I’d been looking forward to the Hidden Valley round not just for the racing but to thaw out after battling with the icy conditions that we have experienced at the past 3 rounds in Victoria and Tasmania.

The first day I arrived in Darwin it was a beautiful 30 degrees as apposed to Melbourne’s 5 degrees when we flew out that morning. In town we visited a place called Crocosaurus Cove where you could swim with the crocs. Let me tell you, the perspex cage that separated me from the jaws of a croc just didn’t seem enough when a 5 metre croc attempted to break through the cage to have his lunch. I’m pleased to say though that I’m still here to tell the story! (See photos below - Yes …. That’s me in the cage!!)

As for the racing, it wasn’t quite the weekend that I was hoping for but Darwin was always going to be a big test for the GRM cars. Our cars don’t generally perform well at the Hidden Valley track so heading into this round I felt that it wouldn’t be one of my strongest rounds and after finishing up 25th in Friday’s practice session I knew that we had a hard weekend coming our way. The car was using its rear tyres up way too fast.

We made some changes for qualifying which was a huge help. I qualified 7th for race 1, with my team-mate Michael Caruso in 17th, but still felt that the car didn’t have very good pace over a long distance. I struggled through race 1 to finish 10th position and got no advantage from using the soft tyres that we started the race with.

Overnight we made some more changes to the car for race 2 qualifying. Again the car was quick enough to be inside the top 10, this time qualifying 5th with Caruso next to me on the grid in 6th. Things were looking good for Caruso to have a good result … he still had his soft tyres to use while most drivers had already used them up in the first race!!

I got off to a good start beating Caruso off the line. However, the drivers on the soft tyres made good use of them, shuffling me back to 10th position before my first pit stop. I made a conscious effort to conserve my tyres throughout the race which paid off towards the end of the race.

I made my way back up to 6th position, only to be passed by Alex Davison with just 4 laps remaining – Davison was running on soft tyres. I dropped back to 7th position where I would remain until the chequered flag. As for my team-mate Caruso, he made the most of his soft tyres and drove away to a race victory. Big congratulations to him for winning his first V8 Supercar race!

I was a little disappointed with the speed that my car had throughout the weekend. However, I am pleased that I still managed to grab a bundle of points for my championship chase. I have come away still 5th in the driver’s standings, just 9 points behind Lowndes and 57 points behind Tander in 3rd.

The next round of the championship will be held in a couple of weeks at the brand new track in the streets of Townsville, Queensland.

Lee Holdsworth #33









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