Lee Holdsworth counts himself lucky to escape injury after crash

Erebus Motorsport’s Lee Holdsworth said he was “very surprised he could walk” when he climbed out of his Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG after a nightmare crash on the 133rd lap of today’s Sandown 500.

The 31-year-old was eliminated from the race after crashing out at the end of the back straight following an as-yet unspecified mechanical failure on his race car.

“As soon as I jumped into the car after Bairdo’s stint something felt funny in the right rear. It was squatting more on one side than the other. But the car was handling OK,” said Holdsworth to v8supercars.com.au.

“A long time later coming down the back straight something happened with the right rear. I don’t know if a tyre went or what, but it spat me sideways and had a big wiggle.

“I got off the throttle because at that stage I was a passenger and I remember going backwards and sideways along the grass and seeing the fence coming up pretty quick. And honestly it was the scariest moment of my life.

“I was just thinking ‘what’s the best way I can get out of this’ because at that stage it was too far in to think about the car – the car was going to get damaged.

“The next thing to think about was myself, so I took my hands off the steering wheel and tried to relax a bit, but what I was thinking at the time was this ‘is not going to be good’.

“And I remember hitting the wall, nosing in and collecting the side.

“Before I hit I had actually closed my eyes and put my hands up in the air.”