Grove Racing recruit Lee Holdsworth expected a more successful first weekend back as a Repco Supercars Championship primary driver.
Holdsworth catapulted himself back into the full-time scene thanks to a superb performance co-driving with Chaz Mostert to victory in the Bathurst 1000 last December.
But after displaying respectable pace in Friday practice at the 2022 season-opening Sydney SuperNight, running inside the top 10 in both sessions, a somewhat lacklustre weekend eventuated.
The #10 Penrite Racing Mustang was out of the set-up window on Saturday and thus never really featured, starting and finishing outside the top 20.
The 39-year-old was unlucky to miss the Sunday shootout, putting himself ninth with a lap finished well after the chequered flag in qualifying, only to then be bumped by Brodie Kostecki and Todd Hazelwood.
Starting on the super soft compound, Holdsworth was running fifth by the end of Lap 1; however, an ultimately wrong call to switch to wet tyres on Lap 8 unravelled his race. He would finish just 16th.
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“Probably practice was a true indication of our speed, where we were back of the top 10, and then we just didn’t execute,” Holdsworth told Speedcafe.com.
“I think we should have been a lot further up, so it’s pretty disappointing, but we have got a lot to work on and the positive thing is there’s a lot going on and it’s all really positive, the direction.”
That overall direction has him far from downcast, with the knowledge too that the strategic gamble to opt for wets could have paid off handsomely instead of backfiring.
“If it had have rained when we wanted it to, we would have looked like heroes, but instead we went from hero to zero,” he continued.
“Sometimes you take those risks and sometimes they pay off, sometimes they don’t.
“We’ll fight again. We have got two straight cars so we have got some time now to further develop and hopefully bring back some good gains for Tassie.”
Speaking more broadly about his return to the paddock, Holdsworth said with a grin: “It’s really cool to be back.
“Just enjoying being in the car again for the start, and finishing the race as well.
“Being in the team environment again as well is really cool, and sort of helping with the direction of the car and working really well with Dave [Reynolds, team-mate].
“I’m enjoying being around this crew and working together towards a common goal.”
Next up is the Ned Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint on March 26-27.
Symmons Plains has been a solid if unspectacular circuit for Holdsworth throughout his Supercars Championship career, chalking up 12 top 10 finishes there to date.
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