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After a glittering career that has spanned two decades, Australian touring car legend Craig Lowndes has announced that the 2018 season will be his last in the Supercars category as a full-time driver.
Decorated with some of the sport’s highest accolades, including three championships, six Bathurst 1000 victories and over a century of race wins, the 44-year-old has made the difficult decision to stand down from his role at Triple Eight with another 12 months left on his contract.
“I’ve always said there are two key factors keeping me racing, and those are my motivation to keep getting up and doing what I love and my competitiveness, and for me, nothing has changed,” Lowndes elaborated in the press conference.
“But at the same time I want to make sure I finish my last full-time season with some strong results in the bag, and after this year’s results so far, Roland [Dane] and I came to the decision between is that this will be my last full season behind the wheel.”
Despite having achieved everything bar more titles with Triple Eight over the past 14 years, Lowndes has endured a difficult run of late since branching away from the Red Bull component of the Queensland-based team. The 2017 season saw him record his worst finishing position in the championship since the dark days at Ford Performance Racing, having finished tenth in the standings with no wins to his name.
This season has seen somewhat of a revival for the wily campaigner, having broken his winless drought in Tasmania from a long-awaited pole position with his new engineer, John McGregor. Lowndes also showed vintage form at the Perth round with a stunning drive from the rear of the field to the podium, which bolstered his points tally in fourth place on the championship table.
(AAP Image/Mark Horsburgh)
As much as it is unfair to rule him out of championship contention this season, it appears that the ultimate prize for Lowndes will be to achieve a seventh Bathurst 1000 crown alongside long-time co-driver Steven Richards.
More opportunities will be afforded to the Holden driver to match his former mentor and great friend Peter Brock’s record of nine Bathurst wins, with Lowndes set to remain as an endurance co-driver with Triple Eight.
Above the on-track feats and accolades, Lowndes’s ultimate hallmark is that he is the ‘people’s champion’ and a favourite among the fans, including this writer.
From Symmons Plains to Darwin and from Sandown to Perth, Lowndes has always shown great passion for the fans who congregate trackside all over the country to see him, whether by posing for every photograph or by making sure everyone gets his distinguishable signature, giving his time and rewarding those to share his love of racing.
This trait is very much in the mould of the great Peter Brock during his time and is now seen through the actions of Scott McLaughlin, who has long been compared to Lowndes in all facets.
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Perhaps the veteran’s greatest on-track moment among all the races was at Bathurst in 2015, where alongside co-driver Richards he negotiated the weather and multiple safety cars from 15th on the grid to win the race, giving Lowndes his sixth victory at the mountain and Richards his fourth.
Behind that, Lowndes’s Bathurst 12 Hour victory for Maranello Motorsport in 2017 alongside Triple Eight teammate Jamie Whincup and multiple Le Mans GT-class winner Toni Vilander was another remarkable feat.
Winning once around the Mountain is a monumental feat, but to have achieved six in a touring car and then two in a GT Ferrari at the 12 Hour endurance spectacle is the mark of a truly prodigious driver, who has entertained masses of racing fans for generations.
While it may be the end of a chapter in Lowndes’s illustrious career, his presence will still be felt in a media capacity for Supercars TV and as a co-driver with his loyal Triple Eight team. Racing overseas is another ambition cited by the three-time champion, with a plethora of GT series to choose from, including the coveted 24 Hours of Le Mans.
So with the countdown on and 15 races left in his full-time career, if you’re is yet to see him race, it is highly recommended that you assemble trackside to witness a once-in-a-lifetime talent. There is the hope too given his form so far this season that more wins can be achieved, above all another at Bathurst, for the great people’s champion.
Thanks, Craig Lowndesy.
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