IRWIN Racing’s Lee Holdsworth has been the busiest driver at Bathurst today driving in a total five on-track sessions.
Holdsworth took the wheel of the IRWIN Racing Ford in the V8 Supercars Championship practice, plus he drove the Car of The Future prototype Falcon in the dedicated co-drivers’ session and two Dunlop V8 Series sessions. This was all part of tyre testing for Dunlop ahead of the COTF debut in 2013.
Making his 100th event start, Holdsworth worked on tuning the IRWIN Ford ahead of the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, while Baird used his session to improve his speed at the wheel.
Nearing the end of the final practice of the day Holdsworth was sitting in fourth position. As others ran brand new rubber, the IRWIN Racing crew avoided the temptation and kept all its eight sets of fresh tyres in the garage.
Friday’s action includes two further practice sessions before lunch ahead of qualifying in the afternoon.
What the drivers had to say:
Lee Holdsworth – IRWIN Racing
“In practice you never know what tyres others are running especially towards the end of that last session,” said Holdsworth.
“We put our second set of tyres on; which weren’t brand new and jumped up to fourth. Then others put on greens and we dropped down the order to 15th, which is clearly not a sign of our real speed as we are better than that. A good sign is that Ross and Jimmy Stone are quite pleased with where the car is at.
“It has been a busy day jumping out of IRWIN Ford and into the Falcon prototype. To be honest I feel like I have done an entire race today! Even though the cars are so different it’s always good to get laps around here. It did take a couple of laps getting used to each car, but it was a good experience.”
Craig Baird – IRWIN Racing
“It takes a few laps here to get your eye in and it’s good to get a full session out of the way,” said Baird.
“It’s important to get a feel for the IRWIN Racing V8 around here as it’s totally different to the Porsche that I’m also racing this weekend. Getting laps earlier in the day in the Porsche did help a little bit as well.
“Being early in the week I just wanted to get some good laps in and keep it in one piece. Lee will concentrate on setting-up the car and make sure it’s like a comfortable armchair for me.”
PRACTICE SESSIONS P1 P2 P3 – COMBINED
1. #1 TeamVodafone J.Whincup/P.Dumbrell 2:07.3565*
2. #6 Trading Post FPR Ford W.Davison/J.McIntyre +0.4616
3. #888 TeamVodafone C.Lowndes/W.Luff +0.6227
4. #52 The Bottle-O Racing Team D.Reynolds/D.Canto +0.7026
5. #14 Lockwood Racing F.Coulthard/D.Besnard +0.8049
6. #22 Holden Racing Team J.Courtney/C.McConville +0.8524
7. #8 Team BOC J.Bright/A.Jones +0.9610
8. #34 Fujitsu Racing GRM M.Caruso/G.Ritter +1.0516
9. #3 Team Hiflex T.D’Alberto/D.Wood +1.2881
10. #5 Orrcon Steel FPR Ford M.Winterbottom/S.Richards +1.2964
15 #4 IRWIN Racing L.Holdsworth/C.Baird +1.5345
V8 SUPERCARS – Practice 3
1. #1 TeamVodafone J.Whincup/P.Dumbrell 2:07.3565*
2. #6 Trading Post FPR Ford W.Davison/J.McIntyre +0.4616
3. #888 TeamVodafone Craig Lowndes +0.6227
4. #52 The Bottle-O Racing Team D.Reynolds/D.Canto +0.7026
5. #14 Lockwood Racing Fabian Coulthard +0.8049
6. #22 Holden Racing Team J.Courtney/C.McConville +0.8524
7. #8 Team BOC Jason Bright +0.9610
8. #34 Fujitsu Racing GRM Michael Caruso +1.1830
9. #3 Team Hiflex T.D’Alberto/D.Wood +1.2881
10. #5 Orrcon Steel FPR Ford Mark Winterbottom +1.2964
15. #4 IRWIN Racing Lee Holdsworth +1.5345
V8 SUPERCARS – Practice 2
1. #888 TeamVodafone Warren Luff 2:09.1794
2. #8 Team BOC Andrew Jones +0.2344
3. #5 Orrcon Steel FPR Ford Steven Richards +0.3993
4. #1 TeamVodafone Paul Dumbrell +0.5405
5. #33 Fujitsu Racing GRM Jack Perkins +0.6402
6. #22 Holden Racing Team Cameron McConville +0.7027
7. #12 Jim Beam Racing Matthew Halliday +0.8657
8. #15 Jack Daniel’s Racing David Russell +0.9308
9. #9 SP Tools Racing Luke Youlden +1.0327
10. #19 Tekno Autosports Scott McLaughlin +1.1362
15. #4 IRWIN Racing Craig Baird +1.4136
V8 SUPERCARS – Practice 1
1. #34 Fujitsu Racing GRM Michael Caruso 2:08.4081
2. #1 TeamVodafone Jamie Whincup +0.1527
3. #9 SP Tools Racing Shane van Gisbergen +0.4154
4. #49 VIP Petfoods Steve Owen +0.5432
5. #5 Orrcon Steel FPR Ford M.Winterbottom/S.Richards +0.6416
6. #51 Pepsi Max Crew Greg Murphy +0.6835
7. #2 Holden Racing Team Garth Tander +0.7198
8. #6 Trading Post FPR Ford Will Davison +0.8390
9. #91 Tekno Autosports Michael Patrizi +0.9173
10. #52 The Bottle-O Racing Team David Reynolds +1.0588
11. #4 IRWIN Racing Lee Holdsworth +1.1573
