V8 Supercars
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IN THE COCKPIT: Lee Holdsworth, Adelaide V8s
It’s a real thrill for me to be a part of the SPEED.com family in 2012. Over the V8 Supercars season I hope I can give you an insight into our great series.
Lee Holdsworth  |  Posted March 12, 2012  
Lee Holdsworth took over the IRWIN driver at Stone Brothers Racing for 2012, and will also steer SPEED.com's V8 driver column after every round. (Photo: IRWIN RACING)
Holdsworth's V8 Blog on SPEED.com


It’s a real thrill for me to be a part of the SPEED.com family in 2012. Over the V8 Supercars season I hope I can give you an insight into our great series, one that is often described as the world’s best Touring Car championship.

I’m a little biased but I agree, although I admit that I’d love to drive a NASCAR. I follow the series closely, in particular Marcos Ambrose, who I think will have a great season this year.

This is my seventh season racing V8s. I’ve been racing since I was eight, starting in go-karts. Rather than focus on open-wheeler categories I wanted to race Touring Cars. I did a series called Commodore Cup, which was a one make series for old General Motors models. I then progressed to the second tier V8 Supercars championship, which is similar to the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

I’m approaching my 200th race start and I’ve managed to win two races. I decided to move to IRWIN Racing over summer because they are one of the best teams in pit lane and I want to win a V8 Supercars title. I think I can do that with this team.
Lee Holdsworth hopes to earn his first title with SBR. (Photo: IRWIN Racing)

The series itself kicked off last weekend in Adelaide. After starting in Abu Dhabi and Bahrain over the last couple of years it’s agreed by everyone that to start in Adelaide with the famous Clipsal 500 is fantastic.

The Clipsal 500 is staged on a street circuit in down town Adelaide, the circuit was made famous by Formula One, which used to race here. Now the F1 circus races in Melbourne and V8s headline what is regarded as one of the best motor sport events in Australia.

It's an amazing track. It’s high grip, you can be aggressive, you get the most out of the car, you can push hard within millimetres of the wall, it’s hot and is a physically and mentally challenging race. It’s exciting for us, that's why we love Clipsal.

My favourite section is the 90 degree right-hand corner going into turn four. There’s a great braking zone then you have turns five, six and seven. It’s a great section of the track, lots of stop-starting, you can be aggressive and the car slides out of the exit – it’s lots of fun.

Turn eight is the most challenging corner on the whole track. You try to get through as fast as you can, but if you make the smallest mistake you can be in a world of trouble.

The biggest mistake you can make at turn eight, and it's such a small, potentially costly mistake, is turning in too early and hitting the kerb or even clipping the rail on the inside of the corner. Doing this will put you into the wall. Turn a foot too early or late and it can all go wrong, you need to be perfect. When you come out of the corner and you’ve made up time it’s rewarding, you know you've done a good job. Over the weekend the corner bit hard and damaged several cars, including that of former V8 champ James Courtney.

The event for me was very satisfying, although we struggled during the early stages of the weekend, but by the first race we were looking good. We had to find some rear grip and fix a couple of mechanical gremlins, but we did and the IRWIN Ford was a jet in both races.

To finish fifth and eighth in my first two races with a new team was beyond my expectations. I thought I could achieve a couple of top 10s, but to be in the five on Saturday and the top 10 on Sunday was fantastic.
After years spent in GRM's Holdens, Holdsworth is now getting acclimated to SBR's Ford Falcon. (Photo: IRWIN Racing)

The IRWIN Ford is great, fast and as I get used to it more I think we are going to be right up there in 2012.

I think the story of the weekend was undoubtedly Jamie Whincup. He’s a three time V8 champion and almost unbeatable at the Clipsal 500. The Sunday prior to the weekend his father passed away, but as the true professional that he is, he was able to control his emotions and win the first race and be extremely fast all weekend. It’s pretty impressive and I pass on my condolences and congratulations.

I think this year’s championship is going to be the best ever; there are plenty of drivers capable of winning. I hope I can be one of the drivers to win this year and I firmly believe it is possible.

I look forward to the races ahead and talking about our great series with you over the next 10 months.

Till next time.

Lee Holdsworth

Lee Holdsworth is one of the emerging stars of Australian V8 Supercars racing. After six seasons driving for General Motors, he has moved camps and will drive the IRWIN Tools Ford in 2012. Known as one of the most talented drivers down pit lane, most believe he is a V8 Supercars champion in the making. Learn more about Lee and the IRWIN team at www.irwinracing.com.au.
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