Craig Andrew Lowndes (born 21 June 1974) is an Australian racing car driver in the Repco Supercars Championship racing for

Triple Eight Race Engineering Triple Eight Race Engineering, branded as Red Bull Ampol Racing in Supercars, is an Australian motor racing team competing in the Supercars Championship. The team has been the only Brisbane-based V8 Supercar team since its formation, originall ...

. He is also a TV commentator. Lowndes is a three-time V8 Supercar champion, a five-time Barry Sheene Medalist, and a seven-time winner of Australia's most prestigious motor race, the

Bathurst 1000 The Bathurst 1000 (known for sponsorship reasons as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a Touring car racing, touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supe ...

and two-time winner of the

Bathurst 12 Hour The Bathurst 12 Hour, currently known as the Meguiar's Bathurst 12 Hour for sponsorship reasons, is an annual endurance race for Group GT3, GT and Production car racing, production cars held at the Mount Panorama Circuit, in Bathurst, New South ...

. On 6 July 2018, Lowndes announced his intention to step down from full-time driving at the end of the 2018 season, continuing as a co-driver. Among all his other achievements, Lowndes has claimed nine 500 kilometre V8 Supercar/ATCC endurance titles (six

Sandown 500 The Sandown 500 (commercially titled Penrite, Penrite Oil Sandown 500) is an annual endurance racing (motorsport), endurance Auto racing, motor race which is staged at the Sandown Raceway, near Melbourne, Victoria, Australia from 1964. The even ...

victories, two

Phillip Island 500 The Phillip Island 500 was an annual motor racing event, last held for Supercars at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Phillip Island, Victoria. The race had three distinct eras; from 1971 to 1977 as an endurance production and later Austral ...

crowns and one

Queensland 500 The Queensland 500 was a motorsport endurance race held at Queensland Raceway near Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. It was best known as a V8 Supercars race held from 1999 to 2002. History Background The Queensland 500 was launched by the V8 Su ...

win). He is also the first driver in ATCC/V8SC history to win 100 races and holds the record for the most Bathurst 1000 podiums with 14. On 11 June 2012, Lowndes received the

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of then ...

in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for his success in motorsport and contribution to the broader Australian community, "particularly through road safety education programs and charitable organisations." In 2018 Lowndes was also recognised in the prestigious Australian Institute of Sport Performance Awards, as the ABC Sports Personality of the Year. On 16 March 2019, Lowndes was inducted into the

Australian Motor Sport Hall of Fame The Australian Motor Sport Hall of Fame was established by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport "to give recognition to those who have brought greatness to motor sport in all its many disciplines, over the entire history of the sport in Aust ...

. Lowndes also voices Conrod in ''

Roary the Racing Car ''Roary the Racing Car'', stylised as ''ROARY: The Racing Car'', is a British preschool animated television series created by David Jenkins and produced by Chapman Entertainment for Five and Nick Jr. that aired from 7 May 2007 to 29 Septem ...

'' in both the UK and US.

Racing career

Lowndes began his racing career at age nine, driving

go-kart A go-kart, also written as go-cart (often referred to as simply a kart), is a type of small sports car, close wheeled car, open-wheel car or quadracycle. Go-karts come in all shapes and forms, from non-motorised models to high-performanc ...

s at a track in the town of Whittlesea.

Early career

He moved up to race cars in 1991, driving a

Van Diemen Van Diemen International, Ltd. was a British race car manufacturer based in Snetterton, Norfolk, United Kingdom. The company had a reputation for high-volume production runs of its cars, the most well-known of which is its series of Formula For ...

in the Motorcraft Formula Ford "Driver to Europe" Series. Despite the car being several years old and receiving minimal sponsorship, Lowndes shot to almost immediate success. Lowndes won the

Australian Formula Ford Championship The Australian Formula Ford Championship is an Australian motor racing competition for drivers of Formula Ford racing cars, held annually since 1970. From 1970 until 1992 it was a national series and from 1993 until 2013 the series was sanctione ...

in 1993 which qualified him for the

Formula Ford Festival The Formula Ford Festival is an annual meeting of Ford-powered single-seat racing cars which is held at the end of the British racing season, at the Brands Hatch motor racing circuit in the county of Kent, in Southern England. The events are he ...

in England that same year, where he finished third. Lowndes moved up to Australia's top rank of

open wheel racing An open-wheel car is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, Sports car racing, sports cars, Stock car racing, stock cars, and Touring car racing, touring car ...

being

Formula Brabham In science, a formula is a concise way of expressing information symbolically, as in a mathematical formula or a ''chemical formula''. The informal use of the term ''formula'' in science refers to the general construct of a relationship betwe ...

in 1994. His success in Formula Brabham driving an ageing

Cheetah The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large Felidae, cat and the Fastest animals, fastest land animal. It has a tawny to creamy white or pale buff fur that is marked with evenly spaced, solid black spots. The head is small and rounded, wit ...

Mk9 against much more modern cars was rewarded with the Australian Silver Star.

Holden Racing Team

By this time Lowndes had been added to the

Holden Racing Team Walkinshaw Andretti United is an Australian motor racing team based in the Melbourne suburb of Clayton. The team, initially branded as the Holden Racing Team, used to field Holden Commodores in the Supercars Championship before making the swit ...

s testing crew. He looked sufficiently promising in testing that Lowndes was drafted into the No. 015 Commodore with Brad Jones for the 1994 Sandown 500. It was expected to be a one-off performance as

Rickard Rydell John Rickard Rydell (born 22 September 1967) is a retired Swedish racing driver. He won the 1998 British Touring Car Championship, the 2011 Scandinavian Touring Car Championship, and has also been a frontrunner in the European/World Touring Car ...

from the

BTCC The British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), officially known as the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by ...

was to join the team for Bathurst. Rydell was forced to stay home for family reasons and after his impressive debut at Sandown, HRT team manager

Jeff Grech Jeff Grech is a motorsport team manager currently managing Winton Motor Raceway in Australia. Career Jeff Grech joined the Holden Dealer Team in 1982 as a mechanic. He moved to the Volvo Dealer Team in 1986 and later in the same year to Perk ...

had no hesitation in giving Rydell's seat to the young Lowndes. After a gruelling double-stint by Jones, Lowndes began the final stint of the race as the premier challenger to the DJR

Falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Some small species of falcons with long, narrow wings are called hobbies, and some that hover while hunting are called kestrels. Falcons are widely distrib ...

of John Bowe which had dominated the race. With eleven laps to go Lowndes stunned the touring car establishment by overtaking Bowe on the outside of Griffins Bend. Bowe retook a lap later and Lowndes was forced to back off in the closing laps but second was an impressive achievement for a rookie driver. Lowndes won fans in pit lane when he later admitted that his passing move on Bowe was simply a case of missing his brake marker. It would be almost a year before Lowndes would find himself back behind the driver's seat. Having been retained as HRT's official test driver for 1995, Lowndes was nevertheless forced to sit on the sidelines as HRT persisted with their experienced line-up of Tomas Mezera and Peter Brock. At the season ending endurance events, Lowndes was finally back behind the wheel and immediately impressed by taking his maiden pole position at the Sandown 500. His race would end in the gravel trap at Turn 1 after a spirited battle with veteran Glenn Seton, but the rookie would prove his speed was no flash in the pain just a few short weeks later when he stormed to pole at the Bathrust 1000. His Holden Racing Team Commodore would DNF early on in the race when both HRT cars experienced oil pressure problems and eventual engine failure. HRT had seen enough however, and for the 1996 season Lowndes replaced

Tomas Mezera Tomas Mezera (born 5 November 1958 in Czechoslovakia) is a naturalised Australian racing driver. Mezera won the 1988 Bathurst 1000, and for many years was a member of the Holden Racing Team as both a driver and team manager. Mezera's sporting ...

full-time in the team. In his first full season as an Australian Touring Car driver, Lowndes duly won the championship by 79 points over reigning champion John Bowe. He also won both the

Sandown Sandown is a seaside resort and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the south-east coast of the Isle of Wight, England. The neighbouring resort of Shanklin and the settlement of Lake, Isle of Wight, Lake are sited just to the south of t ...

and Bathurst races with teammate

Greg Murphy Gregory David Murphy (born 23 August 1972) is a New Zealand professional racing driver, best known as a four-time winner of the Bathurst 1000. Greg Murphy joined Jeremy Clarkson and James May presenting Top Gear Live, when it had its first in ...

, a rare treble. His Bathurst 1000 victory made him the youngest winner of the race at the time and with Murphy, the youngest ever driver pairing to win the Bathurst 1000. His unprecedented success prompted team owner

Tom Walkinshaw Thomas Dobbie Thomson Walkinshaw (14 August 1946 – 12 December 2010) was a British racing car driver from Scotland and the founder of the racing team Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR). He was also involved in professional rugby union, as owner of ...

to sign him to a 10-year management deal: "We signed a deal earlier this year to get me overseas in 1997. Under the terms of the arrangement, he has got seven years to put me into F1. It's pretty rare for a young Australian to get a deal like this, although it's not so unusual in Europe for young drivers to get picked up at an early age."

Formula 3000

At the end of 1996, Lowndes left Australia for Europe to pursue his F1 dream with Walkinshaw. A successful F3 test prompted both Lowndes and Walkinshaw to skip the category altogether in favour of the heavier yet faster F3000. Super Nova team boss David Sears was impressed with Lowndes, but his insistence on a 2-year commitment wasn't to Walkinshaw's liking and ultimately led to the Scotsman signing Lowndes to the

RSM Marko RSM Marko (known as Red Bull Junior Team from 1999-2003) was an Austrian auto racing team, which competed in the FIA Formula 3000 Championship and the 1998 Indy Racing League Dura Lube 200. The team won the drivers' championship in 1996 with ...

Team in the

1997 International Formula 3000 Championship The 1997 International Formula 3000 season was the thirty-first season of the second-tier of Formula One feeder championship and also thirteenth season under the International Formula 3000 Championship moniker. The championship was a ten-round se ...

. Lowndes would partner the highly rated Colombian

Juan Pablo Montoya Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán (; born 20 September 1975) is a Colombian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to , IndyCar between 1999 and 2022, and the NASCAR Cup Series between 2006 and 2024. Montoya won seven Formula One Grand ...

. Qualifying an impressive 6th on debut at Silverstone, Lowndes debut season in the category ultimately proved underwhelming, his best finish of 4th in Enna paling in comparison to Montoya's three wins and 2nd in the championship. Commenting on his time at RSM Marko, Lowndes would describe the experience as markedly different from his time at HRT: "There was one engineer who engineered both cars and (Montoya) drove the car very differently to what I did. They basically made the cars the same and very similar in set-ups and I just had to deal with it." Despite his struggles, Lowndes was determined to carry on, but with sponsors reluctant to fund another season he duly returned to Australia and HRT.

Australian return

On his return to Australia, Lowndes again won the 1997 Sandown 500 for HRT, partnered by New Zealander Greg Murphy. In 1998, he resumed his full-time race seat with the Holden Racing Team (at the expense of Murphy) alongside new teammate and former champion

Mark Skaife Mark Stephen Skaife (born 3 April 1967) is an Australian former racing driver. Skaife is a five-time champion of the Supercars Championship, V8 Supercar Championship Series, including its predecessor, the Australian Touring Car Championship, a ...

. Picking up where he left off, Lowndes went on to win his second consecutive

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

. In 1998, Lowndes also flirted with a potential trans-pacific move to the American CART series. Although he tested with Team KOOL Green's Indy Lights outfit (with both he and fellow V8 Supercar regular Jason Bright setting very competitive times, the latter for PacWest), Lowndes eventually decided to stay in Australia. A 3rd title would follow in 1999 with Lowndes finishing off the podium only once in the first 18 races. In the first full year of campaigning the VT Commodore, Lowndes had already amassed a large lead by the time the series arrived for

Round 8 Round or rounds may refer to: Mathematics and science * Having no sharp corners, as an ellipse, circle, or sphere * Rounding, reducing the number of significant figures in a number * Round number, ending with one or more zeroes * Round (crypto ...

Calder Park Raceway Calder Park Raceway is a motor racing circuit in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The complex includes a dragstrip, a road circuit with several possible configurations, and the "Thunderdome", a high-speed banked oval equipped to race either clo ...

. Following a win in the first sprint race, a poor start by Lowndes saw him bogged down in the field and subsequently tapped by another car which resulted in a spectacular roll over, momentarily sending the car airborne and into an embankment. The car (which was only 4 races old) was declared a write-off and Lowndes was fortunate to only suffer a knee injury. Despite missing the following round at

Symmons Plains Raceway Symmons Plains Raceway is a motor racing circuit in Australia, located about south of Launceston, Tasmania. Since the closure of the Longford Circuit in the 1960s it has been Tasmania's premier motor racing facility. The circuit is one of th ...

due to the injury, Lowndes still went on to clinch the Championship at the Bathurst Classic finishing second in the final round of the season. Despite Lowndes being favourite to win a 4th title in 2000, he struggled with reliability and consistency throughout the season and finished 3rd in the championship, behind teammate

and

Garth Tander Garth Dirk Tander (born 31 March 1977) is a multiple-championship winning Australian motor racing driver competing in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship's Enduro Cup, co-driving for Grove Racing. He was the 2007 series champion for th ...

, with three round wins including the Queensland 500.

Ford

Dissatisfaction within HRT triggered Lowndes move to a new team, causing a stir among race fans when he jumped ship from Holden to arch-rival manufacturer Ford, signing with a team headed up by former driver Fred Gibson. This partnership lasted for two years in which time Lowndes finished 7th and 11th in the championship. The relationship proved unsuccessful due to reliability issues with the

Ford Falcon The Ford Falcon is an automobile nameplate by Ford Motor Company, Ford that applied to several vehicles worldwide. * Ford Falcon (North America), an automobile produced by Ford from 1960 to 1970. * Ford Falcon (Argentina), a car built by Ford ...

race car. Despite the setbacks, Lowndes garnered an admiration from fans for his positive attitude and demeanour.

Gibson Motor Sport Gibson Motorsport was an Australian motor racing team that competed in the Australian Touring Car Championship from 1985 until 2003, though the team had its roots in Gibson's "Road & Track" team which ran a series of Ford Falcon GTHOs in Series ...

was renamed to 00 Motorsport (pronounced "double-o", being Lowndes' racing number) after a change of management. Lowndes's black and silver Falcon was affectionately referred to as the "green-eyed monster" for the bright green covers over the headlights.

Ford Performance Racing

Lowndes signed with the factory-sponsored

Ford Performance Racing Tickford Racing (formerly known as Prodrive Racing Australia and Ford Performance Racing) is an Australian motor racing team which competes in the Supercars Championship. The team currently campaigns two Ford Mustangs, with their current driv ...

team for the 2003 season. The season saw Lowndes improve from the previous 2 seasons and managed a 5th place in the championship including his first round win since the Queensland 500 in 2000 and the first with Ford. The season proved inconsistent and reliability issues started setting in throughout the season causing Lowndes to miss out on a chance for the title. 2004 would be Lowndes worst championship year, reliability became a big issue in the FPR garage throughout the season. Lowndes finished 20th in the championship, causing him to leave the team at the end of 2004.

Triple Eight Race Engineering

Lowndes joined

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

and enjoyed his most successful season since switching to Ford. He had the most round victories and the most pole positions of any driver in the championship, and finished second in the final standings behind champion

Russell Ingall Russell Peter Ingall (born 24 February 1964 in London, England) is a former full-time Australian V8 Supercar driver. He won his V8 Supercars title in 2005, and finished second in 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2004. Ingall has also won the Bathurst 100 ...

. At the

that year, after qualifying on pole, he spent much time in the pits after two separate incidents which severely damaged his Falcon including a wheel that smashed into his windscreen. At the V8 Gala Awards, Lowndes was awarded the Barry Sheene Medal, an award akin to

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

which is voted on by a team of panellists from the Australian media, motorsport magazines, television commentators and former drivers. This award was first introduced in 2003, in honour of the late

Barry Sheene Barry Steven Frank Sheene (11 September 1950 – 10 March 2003) was a British professional motorcycle racer and television sports presenter. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing between and , most prominently as a member of the Su ...

2006–8

Craig Lowndes 2006 australian grand prix melbourne

Lowndes was a contender for the championship right up until the last race, being level on points with

Rick Kelly Rick Kelly (born 17 January 1983) is an Australian professional racing driver who previously competed in the Supercars Championship. He last drove the No. 15 Ford Mustang (sixth generation), Ford Mustang GT for Kelly Racing. Previously, he dro ...

. The two fought one of the closest non-staged finishes in

history on 8 October 2006, with Lowndes winning over Kelly by just half a second. It was his first Bathurst win since 1996 and Ford's first since 1998. The win was a very emotional one for Lowndes, being the first Bathurst 1000 held since the death of his long-time mentor

Peter Brock Peter Geoffrey Brock (26 February 1945 – 8 September 2006), known as "Peter Perfect", "The King of the Mountain", or simply "Brocky", was an Australian motor racing driver. Brock was most often associated with Holden for almost 40 years, al ...

at a road rally the month before. As winners of the Bathurst 1000, the inaugural

Peter Brock Trophy The Bathurst 1000 (known for sponsorship reasons as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supercars Championship, ...

was presented to Lowndes and his teammate,

Jamie Whincup Jamie David Whincup (born 6 February 1983) is an Australian professional racing driver competing in the Supercars Championship. He currently is team principal for Triple Eight Race Engineering. He has driven the No. 88 Holden Commodore (ZB), Ho ...

. Lowndes eventually finished second in the 2006 V8 Supercar season. After complaining of having been "unfairly" held up for up to six seconds a lap by Rick Kelly's teammates over the first two races, Lowndes was level on championship points with Kelly after race 2 (of 3) in the final round. In the deciding race Kelly crashed into Lowndes heading into the hairpin resulting in a lengthy pit stop to repair Lowndes' vehicle. Kelly received a drive-through penalty and went on to finish the race in 18th position and seal the championship victory, while Lowndes finished the race 31st. Lowndes and Triple Eight Racing lodged a protest and a hearing was set up. The protest was dismissed after a long hearing and

was confirmed as the 2006 champion. Lowndes and Triple Eight Racing decided not to appeal that decision and proclaim themselves the "Moral Champions" for the 2006 season. Lowndes won the Barry Sheene Medal for the second year in a row. Lowndes had three victories in 2007, the sixth round at

Hidden Valley Raceway Hidden Valley Raceway is part of the Hidden Valley Motorsports Complex, located at 171 Hidden Valley Road, Hidden Valley, from Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. The Hidden Valley Motorsports Complex includes a 1 km drag racing track ...

, and both the endurance races: the

and the

. He finished third place in the championship, while his teammate,

, finished second. In 2008, Lowndes and Whincup won the Bathurst 1000 for a third time in a row, becoming only the third pairing in the history of the Bathurst 1000 to achieve it, after Peter Brock and Jim Richards (1978–80) and Peter Brock and Larry Perkins (1982–84).

2009

In 2009, Lowndes started the year with a brand new Ford FG Falcon. Despite winning races in Winton, the Gold Coast and Barbagallo, he was unable to match his teammate and finished the year 4th in the standings. Being once again paired up with Whincup in the enduros but suffered the heartbreak of losing the race lead on the final lap of the L&H Phillip Island 500 due to a delaminating tyre. Heading to Bathurst on the verge of making history, they failed in their bid to win a fourth consecutive Bathurst title, due to a drive-thru penalty and a clutch problem.

2010

In 2010, Team Vodafone switched to Holden Commodores as Ford cut sponsorship. Lowndes placed fourth in the championship with podiums in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Queensland Raceway and Winton. Partnering five-time champion

, Lowndes won the Bathurst 1000 for the fifth time, as well as the Phillip Island 500. His first solo victory for the season came during the Falken Tasmania Challenge at Symmons Plains.

2011-12

2011 was Lowndes' most competitive season in five years, narrowly finishing second in the championship to teammate Whincup. He achieved five pole positions, a clean sweep of the Queensland Raceway round, another Phillip Island 500 crown with Mark Skaife and second place at Bathurst. Lowndes finished off the year by winning the Sydney 500, and taking out the Barry Sheene Medal for the third time. He backed up his campaign in 2011 by again finishing second to Whincup the following season. 2012 saw Lowndes net seven race victories in the championship, including his fifth

title with teammate

Warren Luff Warren Raymond Luff (born 21 April 1976), is best known as a race driver, stunt driver and driver training instructor. He is the son of well-known driver training instructor Ian Luff. He currently co-drives for Team 18 in the Supercars Champions ...

2013

In the 2013 season opener in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, Lowndes won by a record margin of over 20.5 seconds in Race 1, while coming in third in Race 2. Lowndes' race 1 victory marked the first win under V8 Supercar's new "Car of the Future" regulations, as well as the 90th of his career, equalling all-time rival

. Along with his Triple Eight Racing teammate

, Lowndes had continued to dominate in the 2013 season, scoring race wins at

Barbagallo Raceway Wanneroo Raceway, currently known as CARCO.com.au Raceway for naming rights reasons, is a motorsport circuit located in Neerabup, approximately north of Perth in Western Australia. It was built by the WA Sporting Car Club. The circuit was ...

, and also winning Race 1 at Gold Coast with co-driver

. He ended the season in 2nd for the third consecutive year, all behind Jamie Whincup.

2015

In 2015, Lowndes became the first driver to reach 100 race wins in the V8 Supercar championship. He capped off a brilliant campaign by placing second in the championship and winning his sixth Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 with

Steven Richards Steven James Richards (born 11 July 1972) is a New Zealand-Australian racing driver, currently competing in the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Championship. Richards, the son of seven-time Bathurst 1000 winner Jim Richards (race driver), Jim Ri ...

. In doing so, he equalled all-time greats

and

Larry Perkins Larry Clifton Perkins (born 18 March 1950) is a former racing driver and V8 Supercar team owner from Australia. Biography Early years Growing up on a farm in Cowangie in the Mallee region of Victoria, Larry, the son of racing driver Edd ...

in terms of number of victories at

Mount Panorama Mount Panorama Circuit, officially Mount Panorama/Wahluu via Dual_naming#Australia, dual naming, is a motor racing track located in Bathurst, New South Wales, Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is situated on Mount Panorama, New South Wal ...

, and now stands alone with a record 13th podium at the event. He also scored his 5th Barry Sheene Medal and won the Most Popular Driver award for the third year in succession (since its inception in 2013).

2016

In 2016, Lowndes rejoined long-time Triple Eight Race Engineering technical director Ludo Lacroix as his Engineer under Team Vortex livery Lowndes won his first race of the year at the

Perth SuperSprint The Perth Super 440 is the current name of the annual motor racing event for Supercars, held at Wanneroo Raceway in Wanneroo, Western Australia. The event has been a regular part of the Supercars Championship and its predecessor, the Australian ...

, where he charged through the field after taking on a two-stop strategy. At the Sydney SuperSprint, Lowndes became the first driver to enter 600 championship races, and after leading the first half of the race, finished second to Whincup, who in the process became the second driver after Lowndes to win 100 races.

2017

2017 saw the continuation of Team Vortex running alongside the newly named Red Bull Holden Racing Team. Despite race wins from both reigning champion Van Gisbergen and crowned champion Whincup, Lowndes for the first time in his career suffered a winless season and also was unable to record a podium finish. Despite the tough season and disappointing outcome of 10th in the championship (his lowest since 2004 and lowest ever with Triple Eight), Lowndes denied retirement and announced his intention to continue racing in 2018.

2018

In January, Lowndes peeled back the covers of the

Autobarn Metcash Limited is an Australian wholesaler and conglomerate company that distributes food, liquor and hardware. The company is headquartered in Macquarie Park, Sydney. History Davids Holdings In 1927, Joe David founded his first corner stor ...

Lowndes Racing

Holden ZB Commodore The Holden Commodore (ZB) is the fifth and final generation of the Holden Commodore range produced by now-defunct Australian brand Holden from 2018 to 2020. Overview This was Holden's first and only imported model to be sold under the Commodore ...

in which he would compete in 2018, and also confirmed he would once again be partnered by

in the Pirtek Enduro Cup. At Tasmania, Lowndes took his first victory in nearly two years, recording the 106th win of his career in the second leg of the 2018 Tasmania SuperSprint. On 5 July, during the press conference at the

Townsville 400 The Townsville 500 (formally known as the NTI Townsville 500) is an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held on the Reid Park Street Circuit in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. The event has been held since 2009. The event was known ...

, Lowndes announced that he will retire from full-time competition at the end of the 2018 championship. He will remain with

as an endurance driver. On 7 October 2018, Lowndes won his 7th

in a record time of 6 hours 1 minute with co-driver

. The win equals Steven's father Jim Richards' total of 7 wins. Lowndes and Richards won the Pirtek Enduro Cup award after a strong showing throughout the campaign, including podiums at Sandown and the Gold Coast alongside his Bathurst win. Lowndes is the second driver to win the cup more than once.

Off-road racing

In 2010, Lowndes ventured off-road to compete in the Australasian Safari with a Holden Colorado at his disposal. He won the

Rally Raid Rally raid is a type of off-road motorsport event competed with different types of vehicles. Along with shorter Baja (cross-country rally), baja rallies, rally raid constitutes cross-country rallying. Both the Fédération Internationale de l'Aut ...

at his first attempt with a margin of over one hour back to second place. Former V8 Supercar team owner, Kees Weel was co-driver. Lowndes crashed out of the lead of the Safari the following year.

Bathurst 12 Hour

Lowndes' first competitive race at Bathurst was in the

1994 James Hardie 12 Hour The 1994 James Hardie 12 Hour was an endurance race for production cars held at the Mount Panorama Circuit, Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia on 3 April 1994. It was the fourth running of the "Bathurst 12 Hour". The race was open to cars of ...

for production cars. Sharing a Nissan Pulsar SSS with John and Phil Morriss, Lowndes finished 14th outright and first in Class B. Since the

race was changed to allow

FIA GT3 Group GT3, known technically as Cup Grand Touring Cars and commonly referred to as simply GT3, is a set of regulations maintained by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) for grand tourer racing cars designed for use in various au ...

cars in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, Lowndes has been a regular competitor in the race. In 2011 he finished second outright in an

Audi R8 LMS GT3 The Audi R8 is a mid-engine design, mid-engine, 2-seater sports car, which uses Audi's trademark quattro (four wheel drive system), quattro permanent all-wheel drive system. It was introduced by the German car manufacturer Audi AG in 2006. Produ ...

driving for famed

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

endurance racing team and multiple

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

winners

Joest Racing Joest Racing is a German sports car racing team that was established in 1978 by former Porsche works racer Reinhold Joest. Their headquarters are in Wald-Michelbach, Germany. Between 1998 and 2016, Joest Racing were strongly linked with ...

. In

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

he failed to finish, again driving an Audi R8, this time for another German team Phoenix Racing, while he also failed to finish in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, again in an R8. Vilander Whincup Lowndes 2017 Bathurst 12 Hour

Lowndes finally won the race in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

driving a

Ferrari 458 GT3 The Ferrari 458 Italia (Type F142) is an Italian mid-engine sports car produced by Ferrari. The 458 is the successor of the F430, and was first officially unveiled at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show. It was succeeded by the 488 GTB (Gran Turi ...

for Maranello Motorsport alongside fellow Aussies John Bowe and Peter Edwards, and ex-

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

driver,

Mika Salo Mika Juhani Salo (born 30 November 1966) is a Finnish former racing driver and broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from to . His best ranking was 10th in the world championship in 1999, when he stood in for the injured Michael Schumach ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. On 5 February 2017, Lowndes again drove for Maranello Motorsport to win the 2017 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour in a Ferrari 488 GT3 alongside Triple Eight teammate Jamie Whincup and another Finnish driver

Toni Vilander Toni Markus Vilander (born 25 July 1980) is a Finnish professional racing driver who currently drives for the Risi Competizione Ferrari team in various categories of sports car racing. After a single-seater career which reached the level of the ...

Racing record

Career summary

Supercars Championship results

Bathurst 1000 results

Complete International Formula 3000 results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Bathurst 12 Hour results

Personal life

Lowndes and his wife Lara married in 2015 They reside in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. He has two children. He is a supporter of the

Essendon Bombers The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers or colloquially the Dons, is a professional Australian rules football club that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCrac ...

. In 2011, Lowndes confirmed his amicable separation from his previous marriage.

References

External links

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Craig Lowndes Official Web Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowndes, Craig 1974 births Living people Australian rally drivers Australian Touring Car Championship drivers Bathurst 1000 winners GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup drivers Formula Ford drivers Formula Holden drivers International Formula 3000 drivers Racing drivers from Melbourne Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Supercars Championship drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers Mercedes-AMG Motorsport drivers RSM Marko drivers Porsche Motorsports drivers Phoenix Racing drivers Team Joest drivers AF Corse drivers McLaren Racing drivers Porsche Carrera Cup Australia drivers Racing drivers from Victoria (state) Ferrari Competizioni GT drivers