Erebus Motorsport completes its Pirtek Enduro Cup line-up, annoucing Craig Baird’s pairing with Lee Holdsworth for the third consecutive year.
The Queensland-based pair is determined to build on their successful partnership once again, whihc saw an impressive team best fourth place finish at last year’s Wilson Security Sandown 500, and fifth overall across the three endurance events. Consistency was the key, with a 14th at the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 and 12th and fifth at the Gold Coast 600 adding up.
Erebus Motorsport CEO Ryan Maddison was pleased to have two accomplished drivers again combining in the #4 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG, following on from the team’s other co-driver announcement of Will and Alex Davison in the #9 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG.
“Lee and Craig performed fantastically during last year’s enduro series so it’s great to have them teaming up again,’’ said Maddison.
“Craig is an experienced and accomplished driver in his own right and Lee’s Championship results for Erebus this year have been great, highlighted by his memorable win at Winton.
“With the advances the team has made so far this year, I know the pair is really hungry to get back in the car together again and we expect them to be equally as competitive if not more than they were last year.
“We believe we have assembled a great team with four pedigree drivers heading into the enduros.’’
Holdsworth is excited to again be combining with Baird for this year’s campaign, based on the gains the team has made this season and with the prospect of further improvements to come.
“Obviously it was a huge part of my Championship last year and Bairdo did a fantastic job with me at those three endurance rounds,’’ said Holdsworth.
“Our results were really encouraging for the team and they were our best throughout the year. We nearly got a podium at Sandown and we know we’ve got a much better car this year so I’m hoping we can build on that and have a better shot at the top five.
“Being with Bairdo for the third year in a row, we’ve got a solid relationship there and we know what we want out of the car. Continuity is a huge thing in these enduros and being with someone you are familiar with is a great position to be in.
“Having a driver that’s similar in technique to you is really important and being familiar with the team is a big thing as well.
“I really enjoy the enduros and I especially have the last couple of years with Bairdo because he’s a fun sort of bloke, we definitely speak the same language and the team enjoy having him here.’’
The experienced Baird, regarded as the king of Carrera Cup, will complete a busy schedule of racing prior to the enduros season which has him racing in the GT Asia series in Korea and Japan in the coming weeks as well as a the Australian GT Championship.
Baird said he was working harder than ever at his fitness out of the car and was eager to get back in the #4 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG for the first of the enduros in September.
“It’s always nice to come back to a place where you not only know the guy that you’re driving with, but the team and engineers as it makes it fit a bit easier,’’ said Baird.
“I know a lot of people say this and don’t mean it but I do, Lee and I are really similar in what we want with the car and what we feel so one thing I don’t have to worry about is setting the car up, I have 110 per cent faith in Lee and what he does with the car.
“I think the results we had last year based off a fourth at Sandown and a fifth at the Gold Coast, it wasn’t a bad result considering how new everything was. We certainly knew the car wasn’t where the guys wanted it and I think this year has proved that with all the hard work that’s gone on, the cars have definitely taken a step forward.
“For the team to get their first race win is a big achievement so I’m looking forward to jumping back in the car.
“There’s no reason in the enduros that we can’t look at get podiums. To say we are going to win Sandown or Bathurst, that’s what we all go there for, but last year the reality of podiums and wins probably wasn’t really there, whereas this year Lee has proved the speed of the car and himself, so we are as good a chance as anyone else.’’
