Former Repco Supercars Championship driver Lee Holdsworth has confirmed his place in the 2021 carsales TCR Australia Series with the veteran signing with Ashley Seward Motorsport.
Joining teenager Jay Hanson in the Victorian outfit’s two car charge, the 37-year-old will be behind the wheel of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce for the season, starting with next month's opening round at Symmons Plains.
Having spent the past 15 years in Supercars, Holdsworth chalked up an impressive 470 race career at the top level, picking up three race wins and 19 podiums – two of which came last year at Sydney Motorsport Park.
In joining TCR for 2021, Holdsworth becomes the latest driver from Supercars to race in the series with Jason Bargwanna, James Moffat, Tony D’Alberto and former 2009 Bathurst 1000 teammate Michael Caruso the others to race this year.
While disappointed to finish up with Supercars, the native Victorian was excited for the new challenge under Ashley Seward Motorsport.
“It’s brilliant to have my future tied up in TCR Australia with Ashley Seward Motorsport – it’s a really professional team running the Alfa Romeos,” Holdsworth said.
“TCR Australia is a great opportunity for me to continue motorsport in a professional manner. It’s great for sponsors having the Seven Network coverage all year, the cars look brilliant and you’ve got manufacturers involved.
“I’ve been following TCR Australia since it started and it has really close racing with some high-profile names. It’s becoming a well-recognised category and a category that races all around the world
“Expectations for the year are pretty high. Just coming out of Supercars, I’m at the top of my game and I expect to be running up the front, bringing home some trophies. From what I’ve seen from Ash Seward and his team, they’ve got all the goods for me to do the job.”
Team owner Ashley Seward was thrilled to have a driver of Holdsworth’s calibre join the team and was confident both he and Hanson would be competitive.
“It’s really exciting to have Lee on board for 2021. The combination of Lee and Jay is going to give our TCR program a strong mixture of youth and experience,” said Seward.
“We had some strong results in the Alfa Romeo during the 2019 TCR Australia Series and we’re confident it will be a competitive package for both Lee and Jay this season.
“Like many other teams, 2020 was a challenging year for us but we’re starting 2021 on a positive note and we’re looking forward to a good season.”
The 2021 TCR Australia season gets underway later this month as part of the Race Tasmania at Symmons Plains Raceway on 24-26 January.