With his #18 Preston Hire Racing Holden Commodore not sounding like it was firing on all cylinders, he pulled into the pits after his second lap of Mount Panorama.

Some 50 minutes later after discovering a broken engine rocker, the decision was made to call it race over. For Holdsworth, who placed third in the 2009 Bathurst 1000, it was devastating.

It continued a tough season which saw Holdsworth fracture his pelvis and two ribs in a crash at Darwin in June.

“There is nothing worse than starting your day like that here. I got a good jump off the line, then she just fell in revs, it felt like she was running on four cylinders,” Holdsworth said.

“I hate to talk luck, but I think we need to come up with our own form of polariser or something for the rest of the year.

"Yeah, gutted.”