HE won't be a full-time member of the Supercars grid next season, but Lee Holdsworth has vowed to be at Mount Panorama come this October's Bathurst 1000.
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Holdsworth is parting ways with Tickford for the 2021 season, the team to now race three instead of four Ford Mustangs.
Holdsworth said he felt 'shock' that his full-time career had come to an end, the 37-year-old having contested 470 Supercars races, posted three race victories and 19 podium finishes.
He will now compete in the 2021 TCR series.
Yet he made it clear he still intends to get behind the wheel of a Supercar this year as a co-driver in the Bathurst 1000. His signature for the year's only enduro will no doubt be highly sought after.
"After 15 years of Supercars, it's all come to an end. It's come as a shock and it feels premature, but that's the way it's played out," Holdsworth said.
"I haven't ticked off winning the Bathurst 1000 yet, but you can bet your ass I'll be back this year with the best chance yet!"
Holdsworth made his Bathurst 1000 debut in 2004, his best finish in the Great Race to date coming five years later as he and Garry Rogers Motorsport team-mate Michael Caruso placed third.
Last year Holdsworth was reunited with Caruso in his Tickford Mustang. He topped qualifying on Friday, placed fifth in the top 10 shootout and on Sunday battled a malfunctioning cool suit to finish the 161-lap epic in seventh.
It was the sixth time Holdsworth had placed in the top 10 for the Great Race.
While it remains to be seen of Holdsworth will indeed get a co-driver role for Bathurst, he will still get the chance to race at the iconic circuit as part of the TCR series.
He will race a Ashley Seward Motorsport-prepared Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce in the series, who's third round will be at Mount Panorama as part of the Bathurst 6 Hour support program.
Holdsworth will also get the chance to race at the Mount at the inaugural Bathurst International, with the TCR series confirmed for that event as well.
"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 it's a category that races all around the world," he said.
"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."
