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[V8SC] Lee Holdsworth column
by Lee Holdsworth
Phillip Island 300
It seemed strange to be back at Phillip Island again after competing there just weeks ago for the first of the endurance events. The reason we came back is because Bahrain was cancelled and Phillip Island was the only track available to replace it and believe me in terms of the temperature, it felt like we were actually in Bahrain!! It was sweltering heat!
It was a different format this weekend cutting the event down to just a two day event. 20 minutes of practice wasn't quite ideal for our team after struggling with car setup last time we raced here. I finished 20th in practice which was a clear sign the car needed a huge change before qualifying.
With just over an hour between practice and qualifying we did what we could to turn the car around. The changes we made certainly helped. I made the top 10 shoot-out and qualified with the 6th fastest shoot-out time. However, I still didn’t feel confident that the car would be kind enough on tyres for the 100km race.
The temperature on Saturday was well over 30 degrees, perfect if you wanted to go to the beach that was just hundreds of meters away!!!!!............. but we had a race to do and in the race car we would see cabin temperatures of over 55 degrees!
We made another change for the race to help conserve the tires but it wasn’t enough. I struggled but just by keeping out of trouble it was good enough to get me through to the end in 7thposition.
The next day was another scorching hot day, even hotter than the first day. I noticed that the wind changed directions 180 degrees which was a concern. It is one of the only tracks where the car is affected greatly by the wind direction. This is because it is such a high speed circuit with an average speed of roughly 150km/h
We didn’t have time to change the car a great deal to compensate for the wind for Sunday morning qualifying. This hurt us a great deal and ended up qualifying 16th. I fought my way through the field throughout the race to reach as high as 8thposition at one point. We were looking good for another top 10 result until our final pit stop.
There was a major *%ck up with the safety car, and if you saw the TV coverage you would know what I am saying. I don’t know how many times we need this to happen before someone gets the brains to control the safety car without causing an absolute shit fight!
For those who didn’t see the TV coverage, the safety car exited pit lane onto the track and stopped on the racing line while trying to pick up the leader. However, it didn’t just stop on the track but it stopped over the crest at the fastest point on the whole circuit!!!!
There were a few drivers that nearly ran into the back of it or other cars, not to mention the amount of positions I lost out of the whole disaster. I exited the pits in 17th position!I wasn’t a happy camper.
With less than 15 laps to go I made my way back to 13th by the end of the race.
Hopefully for next round we will have the safety car situation sorted out and we can get on with normal racing without any inexcusable extra safety concerns such as the safety car. The name Safety Car certainly didn’t represent the name “Safety” on the weekend.
As it turned out even with a bit of a disastrous weekend I still ended up 8th overall for the event and still sitting 8th in the championship standings
Next round is at Barbagallo Raceway Perth in less than 2 weeks time.
Lee Holdsworth #33
Garry Rogers Motorsport
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