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HOLDSWORTH STRIKES ANOTHER BLOW FOR HOLDEN
Monday, 20 August 2007
Young Holden driver Lee Holdsworth has driven like a seasoned veteran to secure a career-first, round victory in the Jim Beam 400, round eight of the 2007 V8 Supercar Championship at Sydney’s Oran Park Raceway over the weekend.
After qualifying in fourth position Holdsworth continued to show impressive speed aboard the Valvoline Cummins GRM Holden Commodore during the first of three races to cross the line in tenth position.
The 24-year-old continued this form during yesterday’s final two races, which were contested in patchy, wet conditions at the iconic venue located west of Sydney.
Holdsworth finished fourth in the morning race before going on to dominate the final encounter.
Holdsworth benefited from his team’s tactical decision to start the final race on wet weather tyres which began under threatening skies.
When rain started to fall seconds prior to the green light it caught many of his competitors out as they were forced to pit and change from their slick (dry) tyres.
By mid race, Holdsworth had opened a commanding lead and was consistently lapping almost a second faster than his competitors.
Despite the safety car being deployed on four occasions to retrieve cars which had spun off the circuit in the wet conditions he was never seriously challenged for the race victory.
In taking the round victory, Holdsworth became the 46th driver to win a round in the 48 years of the Australian Touring Car/V8 Supercar Championship.
Ford campaigner Steven Richards was his consistent best to secure second position overall for the round.
The driver of the #6 Castrol FPR Falcon recorded two fifth’s and a sixth placing across the three races to secure the 19th podium result of his career and his best-ever result around the 2.62km Oran Park circuit.
After qualifying poorly, fellow Ford driver Craig Lowndes charged through the pack in the opening race to finish seventh. From there he continued to climb up the order and secured third place overall for the round.
Championship leader, Holden’s Garth Tander had a weekend he would rather forget with a suspension failure in race one forcing him out while leading. A second placing in the final race was the only highlight for Tander as he finished 12th overall for the round.
After eight rounds Tander leads by six points over his Toll HSV team-mate Rick Kelly. Jamie Whincup remains in third position.
Drivers now face the acid test of the traditional two-race endurance campaign taking in the Just Car Insurance 500 at Sandown International Raceway in Melbourne Victoria on September 14-16, before travelling to Bathurst, NSW for the Super Cheap Auto Bathurst 1000 on October 4-7.
The radar is then set for Round 11 of the V8 Supercar Championship Series during the three-race, V8 Supercar Challenge, as part of the headline program of the 17th Lexmark Indy 300 on the streets of Surfers Paradise, October 18-21.
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After qualifying in fourth position Holdsworth continued to show impressive speed aboard the Valvoline Cummins GRM Holden Commodore during the first of three races to cross the line in tenth position.
The 24-year-old continued this form during yesterday’s final two races, which were contested in patchy, wet conditions at the iconic venue located west of Sydney.
Holdsworth finished fourth in the morning race before going on to dominate the final encounter.
Holdsworth benefited from his team’s tactical decision to start the final race on wet weather tyres which began under threatening skies.
When rain started to fall seconds prior to the green light it caught many of his competitors out as they were forced to pit and change from their slick (dry) tyres.
By mid race, Holdsworth had opened a commanding lead and was consistently lapping almost a second faster than his competitors.
Despite the safety car being deployed on four occasions to retrieve cars which had spun off the circuit in the wet conditions he was never seriously challenged for the race victory.
In taking the round victory, Holdsworth became the 46th driver to win a round in the 48 years of the Australian Touring Car/V8 Supercar Championship.
Ford campaigner Steven Richards was his consistent best to secure second position overall for the round.
The driver of the #6 Castrol FPR Falcon recorded two fifth’s and a sixth placing across the three races to secure the 19th podium result of his career and his best-ever result around the 2.62km Oran Park circuit.
After qualifying poorly, fellow Ford driver Craig Lowndes charged through the pack in the opening race to finish seventh. From there he continued to climb up the order and secured third place overall for the round.
Championship leader, Holden’s Garth Tander had a weekend he would rather forget with a suspension failure in race one forcing him out while leading. A second placing in the final race was the only highlight for Tander as he finished 12th overall for the round.
After eight rounds Tander leads by six points over his Toll HSV team-mate Rick Kelly. Jamie Whincup remains in third position.
Drivers now face the acid test of the traditional two-race endurance campaign taking in the Just Car Insurance 500 at Sandown International Raceway in Melbourne Victoria on September 14-16, before travelling to Bathurst, NSW for the Super Cheap Auto Bathurst 1000 on October 4-7.
The radar is then set for Round 11 of the V8 Supercar Championship Series during the three-race, V8 Supercar Challenge, as part of the headline program of the 17th Lexmark Indy 300 on the streets of Surfers Paradise, October 18-21.
Back | Back to top
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