HOLDSWORTH SET TO BOW OUT
Lee Holdsworth set to bow out – Image: LAT
The full-time Supercars career of Lee Holdsworth appears to be over.
By BRUCE NEWTON and MARK FOGARTY
While the 37-year old veteran of 470 Supercars race starts had a valid contract in place for a full-time drive at Tickford Racing in 2021, Auto Action sources with a detailed understanding of the issue say he has been left without a seat by a reshaping of the Melbourne squad’s racing plans.
It now seems certain Holdsworth will only be seen in a Supercar as a co-driver at next October’s Bathurst 1000, the sole two-driver event expected on the 2021 calendar.
Speculation over Holdsworth’s future has soared within the motorsport industry as rumours run rampant he is on the hunt in Carrera Cup and among the Australian Racing Group categories for a drive. His brother Brett already races in the TA2 Trans Am category
Holdsworth declined to comment when contacted by AA. Tickford Racing CEO Tim Edwards also declined comment.
Guaranteed starters for Tickford Racing in 2021 are Cam Waters in a Monster Ford Mustang and Jack Le Brocq in an entry with significant sponsorship from Truck Assist – a backer he brought to the team.
Le Brocq’s primary 2021 sponsor, Supercheap Auto, will not have a major role at the team in 2021.
James Courtney will campaign a Boost- backed customer entry underpinned by a Tickford REC, while the new Blanchard Racing Team will occupy the fourth garage slot at events with Tim Slade behind the wheel of the Cooldrive Ford (see pages 4-5 of Issue 1801).
Tickford did attempt to secure another Racing Entitlements Contract (REC) to run a fourth entry of its own. That would have left BRT to fend for itself as a newcomer at the far-end of pitlane with the grid expanded from 24 to 25 cars.
But rather than an attempt to keep Holdsworth in a full-time drive, AA understands the fourth Tickford REC would have been for Thomas Randle because patron Rusty French had backing to fund the deal. French is also a co-owner of Tickford Racing.
The word was that Castrol would shift its backing to Randle from Kelly Racing. As part of the package, retired full-timer and KR co-owner Rick Kelly would partner Randle in the Bathurst 1000.
Holdsworth did not have the sort of financial backing that could have kept him in consideration for an ongoing drive at Tickford, or allowed him to swoop in and grab a seat at Team Sydney, Kelly Racing, Erebus Motorsport or Matt Stone Racing, all of which had yet to confirm their 2021 driver line-ups as AA closed for press
The Tickford push to secure one of the two RECs Supercars has on the shelf is understood to have ground to a halt anyway.
Tickford needed another REC because the entry it ran for Phil Munday’s Milwaukee Racing has been sold to Brad Jones Racing (BJR).
That REC also underpinned Courtney’s entry following Munday’s withdrawal amid the coronavirus crisis. It has been bought by BJR to replace the BRT REC. Got all that?
In effect, Tickford Racing was trying to buy back the REC it relinquished at the end of 2018. AA has learned that Supercars left the decision to the other teams, which were to vote on Tickford’s request.
Indications were that only Tickford supported the release of the extra REC, with at least one rival squad actively lobbying against expanding the grid.
Teams were opposed because an extra REC would reduce their share of Supercars’ annual profit.
Tickford had proposed running Randle as a permanent wildcard without a REC and without earning revenue, but that too was rejected
A graduate of the Commodore Cup and the development series, Holdsworth made his full-time Supercars debut in 2006 with Garry Rogers Motorsport and stayed with that team until 2012.
He shifted to Stone Brothers Racing, which transformed into Erebus Motorsport in 2013. He scored the first win for Mercedes in Supercars in 2014.
He raced for Charlie Schwerkolt from 2105-18 and then went through something of a career rejuvenation at Tickford in the new Mustang, finishing 10th in the championship in 2019 and 11th in 2020.
He started at Tickford on a single year deal and was re-signed on a multi-year contract at the end of 2019.
In what is now expected to be his last full-time race, he was Friday fast-man in qualifying at the 2020 Bathurst 1000, and finished seventh in the race with good friend Michael Caruso despite car issues. Holdsworth has claimed three wins across his full-time career, 19 podiums and four pole positions.
His best Bathurst finish was third with Caruso in 2009. His best championship finish was seventh with GRM in 2010.
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