Fresh from celebrating his maiden Repco Bathurst 1000 victory, Grove Racing’s new signing Lee Holdsworth is determined to build the team into a new force.
Holdsworth was left without a full-time Repco Supercars Championship drive last year after an off-season shuffle at Tickford Racing, but will join Grove Racing as it enters a new era without the involvement of the Kelly family.
Partnering David Reynolds at the Braeside-based operation, Holdsworth is eager to progress the team forward in the early stages under the guidance of Stephen and Brenton Grove.
“I’m blown away by this opportunity and I can’t wait to get back full-time into the Supercars Championship,” said Holdsworth.
“My full-time campaign was cut short at the end of 2020 and it certainly wasn’t the way I imagined bowing out from the sport. I’ve now got a great opportunity with Grove Racing to finish off my full-time career in Supercars while playing an important role in helping the team move forward for the future.
“Although sitting on the sidelines wasn’t much fun, winning the Bathurst 1000 made up for it! As soon as I got a phone call from Stephen about driving with them full-time in 2022, I knew it was a challenge I wanted to accept.
“I’ve got an important role to play in the team for next year, and I’m excited by that. Having the chance to partner David Reynolds, who I know is one of the fastest drivers in the field, and help build this new team up to be a future force in the championship is very exciting.
“You can see Grove Racing is leaving nothing on the table. They have good cars, some new engineering and management talent, and they are building up their young driver program too, so I’m looking forward to being a part of the whole program. Hopefully I can use some of my experience to help drive the team forward.
“What a great Christmas present! Now I’m just excited to drive the Grove Mustang for the first time early in the new year.”
Stephen Grove was excited to have Holdsworth join the team after his performance at the Repco Bathurst 1000 and is keen to have the experienced driver involved in its Grove Junior Team program.
“It is a pleasure to welcome Lee to Grove Racing for 2022,” said Grove.
“Lee has proven to be one of the fastest and most reliable drivers in the Supercars field over the years, and we feel he will be the perfect fit for our team.
“He did an incredible job as the co-driver to Chaz Mostert in the Bathurst 1000, and they both thoroughly deserved the victory at The Great Race.
“Lee is one of the most experienced drivers in the field, and at this point of our team’s development, and with the implementation of the Grove Junior Team, we wanted to have an experienced driver, a leader off the track and most importantly, someone we know will work with our team to drive forward.
“Lee ticks all of those boxes. His resume speaks for itself and we can’t wait to get into the Supercars Championship with him and David Reynolds next year.”
Holdsworth will make his return at the Repco Newcastle 500 on March 4-6 2022.