Speed holds big start for a VIP (9)
I believe the answer is:
celebrity
'a vip' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'speed holds big start' is the wordplay.
'speed' becomes 'celerity' (celerity is a kind of speed).
'holds' is an insertion indicator.
'start' says to take the initial letters.
The first letter of 'big' is 'b'.
'celerity' enclosing 'b' is 'CELEBRITY'.
'for' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for celebrity that I've seen before include "name" , "target of paparazzo?" , "Well-known or famous person" , "Star" , "Famous person seen in rebel city" .)