Holdsworth fastest again in TCR practice

Lee Holdsworth remains unbeaten after the second practice session in Round 1 of the 2021 Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series at Symmons Plains.

While the TCR debutant could not beat the 55.7559s which he set in Practice 1, nor could anyone else in the category’s second 30-minute session at the opening Boost Mobile Race Tasmania event.

Holdsworth did, however, finish with a flourish, setting a 55.9336s after the chequered flag which put him 0.2608s clear of Ashley Seward Motorsport team-mate Jay Hanson.

Once again, Garry Rogers Motorsport’s Jordan Cox helped make for an Alfa Romeo sweep of the top three with a personal best 56.2204s, while Brad Shiels (Hyundai) was fourth and Chaz Mostert (Audi) fifth.

Mostert had been quickest after the first flyers, and he ended up exchanging first position with Holdsworth, Hanson, and Cox in the early stages.

Holdsworth tightened his grip on top spot with 56.1151s just shy of 10 minutes in, and went close to beating that almost 10 minutes later again when he clocked a 56.1251s having gone fastest to the second sector.

Shiels moved into second position with a 56.2266s a short time later before he was usurped by Hanson’s 56.1944s with five minutes remaining.

While they had no more time left in them, Cox managed to split them with a lap just 0.0260s slower than Hanson’s best, before Mostert moved into fifth with a 56.2958s in the final minute.

That effort bumped Michael Caruso (Alfa Romeo) to sixth, as Holdsworth rolled out a 56.0364s and the 55.9336s either side of the chequered flag.

Explained the pace-setter, “The track was a bit hotter then so not as much grip, maybe a bit more wheelspin, which makes it very difficult, especially from what I’m used to driving.

“When you gut understeer, you just can’t drive through it at all; you really have to square the car off.

“But, the team are doing a really good job tuning them up. The good thing here is Jay likes a similar thing to what I do so he tried something and it improved, we tried it [and] it improved, so we’re tracking along right at the moment.

“Early days, but all good so far.”

Despite being fastest in both sessions so far, Holdsworth admits he is still coming to terms with his new, front-wheel drive ride.

“Massive learning phase still,” he said.

“I still feel like I’ve got a lot to learn and I don’t know much about how to set these cars up yet, so it’s hard for me to say ‘We need to do a bit of this’ or ‘…a bit of that’ to the set-up.

“I’m leaving that up to Ash at the moment; he’s doing a good job.

“The more laps, the more knowledgeable I will be, and the more refined my technique will get.”

Rounding out the top 10, behind Caruso, were Luke King (Audi), Josh Buchan (Hyundai), Aaron Cameron (Peugeot), and Dylan O’Keeffe (Renault).

Jason Bargwanna (Peugeot) was 13th all told and James Moffat (Renault) 14th, with the remaining four on the timesheet all in Hondas.

Qualifying takes place tomorrow from 14:15 local time/AEDT.

Results: Practice 2