IN THE COCKPIT: Lee Holdsworth, Aussie GP V8s

V8 Supercars

ON TV

IN THE COCKPIT: Lee Holdsworth, Aussie GP V8s

The Australian Grand Prix (AGP) weekend is one of the best events of the year; whether you are a racer or a fan, there is something for everyone.

Lee Holdsworth | Posted March 23, 2012

Holdsworth has started off his season with Stone Brothers Racing in impressive fashion. (Photo: IRWIN Racing)

The Australian Grand Prix (AGP) weekend is one of the best events of the year; whether you are a racer, a fan of motor sport or a fan of events, there is something for everyone.

Every year the Grand Prix brings Melbourne to life. There is so much happening and so much to do and see. At the AGP there is plenty of action on and off the track, lots happening in the air – thanks to the F-111 Air Force jets - and lots happening on the water (Albert Park Lake is in the centre of the Grand Prix precinct). If you can’t find something to enjoy then you are hard to please.

I don’t know what it is like in any other country that holds a Formula One event, but here in Australia the Victorian State Government (Melbourne is the capital of Victoria) subsidises the staging of the event to the tune of about $50million. This means it is essentially paid for by the tax payers.

No one likes paying tax, but if you don’t like the event it brings up a bit of negative comment about why the government is paying so much for an event when it should be invested into schools, public transport and other infrastructure. Of course the media latches on to these comments and runs with it and runs with it.

Most don’t agree with this argument; the vast majority love the GP event and crowds are good. We had over 313,000 go to the event, it markets the city to the rest of the world and brings in lots of tourists. I love it and hope we never lose it.

The Grand Prix race itself was interesting. McLaren and Red Bull again showed that they would be the teams to beat, but Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault will be hot on their heels.

I believe Jensen Button and Lewis Hamilton will fight it out for the title this year and Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber will challenge them in each race. But watch out for Michael Schumacher, Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean. I think the Mercedes and Renault teams will surprise a lot. I also think that this season will be one of the best seasons of F1 that we have seen for a number of years.

V8 Supercars is the main support category for Formula One in Melbourne. Formula One is popular in Australia, but like NASCAR is America’s biggest series, V8 Supercars is firmly the fans favourite here.

We had three points races last weekend, all non-championship races, with a non-points qualifying race to start proceedings.

This format was pretty different. Basically we had our normal qualifying session which determined starting places in the qualifying race. After the third lap (in the qualifying race) the bottom three cars dropped off and returned to the pit lane. Every lap after that a further three cars were eliminated until there were 10 cars left with four laps to go.

Where each car finished determined the grid in the second race, which was the first points race of the weekend. Lost? It sounds complicated, but it was pretty straight forward.

We started 14th, which wasn’t that great but the IRWIN Tools Ford was strong over the weekend. We finished that race in sixth place, then sixth in the third race.

Saturday’s race, which was the third race, was marred by a red flag on the first lap. Series champion Jamie Whincup was turned around by James Courtney and four cars ploughed into the Vodafone car stopping the race immediately.

Because the race had to finish to time, rather than lap count, once the race started up again there was time for only seven laps. As I said, we finished sixth, but it wasn’t much of a spectacle.

The Melbourne street track is narrow at parts and you know that there will be a few casualties in a race. If there isn’t an accident at the turn one-two chicane, there will be one at the turn three right hander. Fortunately, we were fine.

In the weekend’s final race, we finished seventh and placed sixth overall for the weekend.

It’s only my second event with IRWIN Tools and I’m getting used to the car and the team more and more every time I race. The car can be a jet; we just need to consistently get it to that stage earlier in the weekend - which I am confident we will do.

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.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lee Holdsworth

MORE BY THIS AUTHOR

HOLDSWORTH: Taking The Mercedes Curveball To Texas
Heading to the states is an awesome opportunity, not just for me,…
IN THE COCKPIT: Lee Holdsworth, Queensland V8s
I have been aboard the IRWIN Racing Ford at Stone Brothers Racing…
IN THE COCKPIT: Lee Holdsworth, Townsville V8s
You expect days like this every now and then, but let's hope it doesn’t…