HOLDSWORTH HEADS TO TCR
Lee Holdsworth heads to TCR – Image: Supplied
Supercars refugee Lee Holdsworth is tipped to seal and reveal a deal early next week to race in the 2021 TCR Australia Series.
By BRUCE NEWTON
AUTO ACTION understands Holdsworth is on-track to join Ashley Seward Motorsport and race an Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR alongside rookie Jay Hanson.
Holdsworth will take the seat from Tim Slade, who had originally been expected to drive the Alfa in 2021 after testing the car last year.
Slade sat on the Supercars sidelines in 2020 after losing his drive with Brad Jones Racing at the end of the 2019 season.
He rejoins the V8 championship in 2021 driving a Cooldrive-backed Ford Mustang for the new Blanchard Racing Team.
Holdsworth has driven for the last two years at Tickford Racing and seemed set to continue into 2021 full-time until it became apparent the Ford squad had a sponsorship and Racing Entitlements Contract (REC) shortfall.
Slade and BRT will be the fourth car in the Tickford line-up in 2021, although the team will not be based at Campbellfield between races but at its own facilities in Box Hill.
As previously reported by AUTO ACTION, Holdsworth has been on the hunt for a drive outside Supercars since late 2020.
It is understood he had multiple offers across both TCR and Carrera Cup before opting to go with the two-litre touring car category.
The 37-year-old is due to test next week at the ARG Phillip Island test and media day before debuting at Symmons Plains as part of the season-opening Race Tasmania events in January, pending the direction the current version of the COVID-19 crisis takes.
The deal means Holdsworth will race against his old Garry Rogers Motorsport team-mate Michael Caruso, who will drive a Valvoline-backed Alfa Romeo for GRM.
Other old Supercars rivals he will face up against include Tony D’Alberto (Wall Racing Honda Civic Type R), Jason Bargwanna (GRM Peugeot 308) and James Moffat (GRM Renault Megane R.S.), as well as a host of young guns.
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