Lee Holdsworth (born 2 February 1983) is a semi-retired Australian racing driver. He won the 2021 Bathurst 1000 alongside

Chaz Mostert Chaz Mostert (born 10 April 1992) is an Australian professional racing driver competing in the Repco Supercars Championship. He currently drives the No. 25 Holden ZB Commodore for Walkinshaw Andretti United. Mostert was the winner of the 202 ...

and finished his full-time career after the 2022 season, after nearly two decades of racing. He plans to return as a co-driver in the endurance events in the future.

History

Early career

Lee Holdsworth's motorsport career began in

go-karts A go-kart, also written as go-cart (often referred to as simply a kart), is a type of sports car, close wheeled car, open-wheel car or quadracycle. Go-karts come in all shapes and forms, from non-motorised models to high-performance racing ...

. He started racing cars in 2001 at just 17, when he contested the Commodore Cup national series. Holdsworth finished fifth in the 2002 Commodore Cup national series and third in the 2003 Commodore Cup championship, before graduating to the Konica Minolta V8 Supercar Series in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

, driving a

Holden VX Commodore The Holden Commodore (VX) is an executive car that was produced by Holden from 2000 to 2002. It was the second iteration of the third generation of the Commodore. Its range included the luxury variants, Holden Berlina (VX) and Holden Calais (V ...

for Smiths Trucks Racing. Holdsworth recorded some impressive results in 2004, including finishing his first-ever round in the top-10 and winning the reverse-grid race at

Eastern Creek Eastern Creek is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Eastern Creek is located west of the Sydney central business district, in the Blacktown local government area and is part of the Greater Western Sydney region. ...

, as well as finishing third overall in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

. Holdsworth also contested the

Sandown 500 The Sandown 500 (formally known as the Penrite Oil Sandown 500) is an annual endurance motor race which is staged at the Sandown Raceway, near Melbourne, Victoria, Australia from 1964. The event's name, distance – and the category of cars co ...

and

Bathurst 1000 The Bathurst 1000 (formally known as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supercars Championship, the most rece ...

V8 Supercar endurance races with

Phillip Scifleet Phillip Scifleet, born 4 May 1977, is an Australian race driver. Starting in Karts in 1993 winning the Australian Formula A Series in 1994 before moving up into the cars for the Australian Suzuki GTi Cup in 1995. Then he moved into Formula Ford i ...

and Mark Noske respectively. In 2005, Holdsworth ran a limited campaign in the renamed HPDC V8 Supercar Development Series and the Australian Formula Ford Championship, as well as contesting the two endurance races with

Garry Rogers Motorsport Garry Rogers Motorsport is an Australian motor racing team. It is owned by retired racing driver Garry Rogers who began the team to further his own racing efforts. Based in Melbourne, originally out of a Nissan dealership owned by Rogers, the te ...

Supercars Championship

Holdsworth's big break came in 2006 when he scored a full-time drive with Garry Rogers Motorsport in the V8 Supercar Championship. In 2007, Holdsworth won his first V8 Supercar round at Oran Park. The win came courtesy of consistent driving over the weekend and a good strategy in the final race in changeable conditions. In 2008 Holdsworth began working with The John Bowe Institute of Driving, helping to teach the techniques of performance driving to the public.. Ford FG Falcon of Lee Holdsworth 2012

Holdsworth moved to

Stone Brothers Racing Stone Brothers Racing (SBR) was an Australian motor racing team that competed in the International V8 Supercars Championship between 1998 and 2012. The team was formed in 1998 when Ross and Jim Stone bought Alan Jones's shares in Alan Jones ...

for the

2012 V8 Supercars Championship The 2012 International V8 Supercar Championship (often simplified to the 2012 V8 Supercars Championship) was an FIA sanctioned international motor racing series for V8 Supercars. It was the fourteenth running of the V8 Supercar Championship Seri ...

, ending a six-year association with Garry Rogers Motorsport. For 2013, the team was bought by

Erebus Motorsport Erebus Motorsport, (formerly known as Erebus Racing,) is an Australian motor racing team. The team competes in the Supercars Championship with two Holden ZB Commodores. The team's current drivers are Will Brown and Brodie Kostecki. The team i ...

, and ran Mercedes-Benz E63 AMGs. Holdsworth scored the team's first race win at Winton in April 2014. In 2015, Holdsworth moved to

Team 18 Team 18 (formerly known as Charlie Schwerkolt Racing) is an Australian motor racing team currently competing in the Supercars Championship, running two Holden ZB Commodores. The team's current drivers are Mark Winterbottom and Scott Pye. Hist ...

, who operated as a satellite team to the

Holden Racing Team Walkinshaw Andretti United is an Australian motor racing team based in the Melbourne suburb of Clayton. The team currently fields two Holden ZB Commodores in the Supercars Championship for Nick Percat and Chaz Mostert, along with a Porsche 91 ...

. Holdsworth won the 2015 Drivers' Driver award at the 2015 V8 Gala awards. In 2016, the team was rebranded to

. They also became an independent team, racing a Triple Eight-built

Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore ...

. During Race 13 of the season at the Darwin Triple Crown, Holdsworth sustained fractures to his pelvis, right knee and 2 ribs after an incident on the opening lap. For the next 2 events, Kurt Kostecki substituted for Holdsworth in a spare chassis before the team were able to obtain a brand-new car from Triple Eight. At the Sydney SuperSprint, Holdsworth was still unfit to race, so

Enduro Cup The Enduro Cup (formally known as the Pirtek Enduro Cup for sponsorship reasons), was an award given out to the highest points scorers over the three endurance events in Supercars; the Sandown 500, Bathurst 1000 and the Gold Coast 600. Format Q ...

driver

Karl Reindler Karl Reindler (born 18 April 1985) is an Australian racing driver, who has previously competed in the Supercars Championship. He currently shares duties with Bruno Correia as the Medical Car driver for Formula One. Biography Formula Three Of ...

drove the car for the event before returning as a co-driver at the

with Holdsworth competing in his first race since his accident. In 2017, Holdsworth continued with Team 18 and finished the season in 16th place with a best finish of 4th place being recorded at the

Newcastle 500 The Newcastle 500 (known for sponsorship reasons as the Thrifty Newcastle 500) is an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held at the Newcastle Street Circuit in Newcastle, New South Wales since 2017. The event has not been held since 2019 ...

For 2018, Holdsworth will continue with the team and race the new

Holden ZB Commodore The Opel Insignia is a large family car (D-segment in Europe) developed and produced by the German car manufacturer Opel since 2008. Taking its name from a 2003 concept car, the model line serves as the flagship Opel car line, slotted above th ...

. In 2019, Holdsworth rejuvenated his career by signing a multiple year deal to drive for Tickford Racing in the #5 Ford Mustang. In two years with the team, he finished 10th in 2019 and 11th in 2020 points standings before mutually departing Tickford in favour of Jack Le Brocq. On December 5, 2021 Holdsworth won his first

, driving alongside

in the #25 Holden Commodore for

Walkinshaw Andretti United Walkinshaw Andretti United is an Australian motor racing team based in the Melbourne suburb of Clayton. The team currently fields two Holden ZB Commodores in the Supercars Championship for Nick Percat and Chaz Mostert, along with a Porsche 91 ...

. In his final year of racing, Holdsworth was awarded the Barry Sheene Medal, the first time he had received the award in his career.

Retirement

On 30 August 2022, Holdsworth announced that he would retire from full-time competition at the end of the 2022 season. He stated that he desired to spend more time with his family, while also pursuing a career as a real estate agent. He plans though to return as co-driver for endurance events in the future.

Career results

Career summary

Supercars Championship results

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

TCR Australia results

References

External links

Lee Holdsworth ProfileProfile at Racing Reference
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Holdsworth, Lee 1983 births Formula Ford drivers Living people Racing drivers from Melbourne Supercars Championship drivers V8SuperTourer drivers Bathurst 1000 winners Garry Rogers Motorsport drivers Andretti Autosport drivers United Autosports drivers Australian Endurance Championship drivers Audi Sport drivers Stone Brothers Racing drivers