Craig Lowndes
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Craig Lowndes (born June 21, 1974 in Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian motor racing driver, currently competing for Team Betta Electrical in the V8 Supercar series.
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[edit] Racing career
Born in Melbourne, Lowndes began his racing career at age 9, driving go-karts at a track in the nearby town of Whittlesea.
[edit] 1991
He moved up to race cars in 1991, driving a Van Diemen in the Australian Formula Ford Championship. Despite the car being several years old and receiving minimal sponsorship, Lowndes shot to almost immediate success.
[edit] 2993
Lowndes won the Formula Ford championship which qualified him for the Formula Ford Festival in England that same year, where he finished third.
[edit] 1994
Lowndes moved up the ranks of open wheel racing to Formula Brabham in 1994, aiming to secure a drive in V8 Supercars. His success in Formula Brabham was rewarded when he and Brad Jones paired up to compete in the 1994 Sandown 500 and, later that year, the gruelling Bathurst 1000 endurance race where he and Jones finished second. This led to an offer to drive for the Holden Racing Team at Sandown and Bathurst the following year.
[edit] 1996
His first full V8 Supercar season was in 1996 when, at his first attempt, he won the championship and also won both the Sandown and Bathurst races with team-mate Greg Murphy.
[edit] 1997
To the surprise of many of his fans, Lowndes left Australia in and went to Europe to compete with the RSM Marko Team in Formula 3000. He enjoyed limited success and failed to find the budget to compete a second year.
[edit] 1998
Lowndes returned to Australia and exacted his dominance once more on the V8 Supercar championship, winning the title for Holden Racing Team in 1998 and 1999. In doing so, he became the first driver since Jim Richards (1990-1991) to win back-to-back championships.
[edit] 2001
Lowndes caused 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 which ultimately proved unsuccessful due to reliability issues with the Ford Falcon race car. Despite the setbacks, Lowndes garnered an admiration from fans for his positive attitude and demeanour.
[edit] 2002
Gibson Motorsport was renamed to 00 Motorsport (pronounced "double-zero", 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. 00 Motorsport folded at the end of the year and Lowndes signed with the factory-sponsored Ford Performance Racing team for the following year.
[edit] 2003
Lowndes won a round of the V8 Supercar championship and, with team-mate Glenn Seton, placed second at Bathurst.
[edit] 2004
Technical problems, especially constant engine failures, plagued the team for the whole of the year. Lowndes and Seton teamed up again to repeat their second placing at the Bathurst 1000.
[edit] 2005
Lowndes joined Team Betta Electrical 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. He suffered a luckless run at the Bathurst 1000 that year, where, despite qualifying on the pole, he spent much time in the pits after two separate incidents which severely damaged his Falcon.
He was awarded the Barry Sheene Medal in 2005, an award akin to an MVP which is voted on by a team of panellists from the Australian media, motorsport magazines, television commentators and former drivers.
[edit] 2006 season
2006 is Lowndes' tenth season in V8 Supercars. With two rounds remaining in the championship (as of November 11) winner, Lowndes trails Rick Kelly in the championship. The two fought one of the closest non-staged finishes in Bathurst 1000 history on October 8, 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 Peter Brock (killed while competing in the Targa West rally the month before).
As winners of the Bathurst 1000, the inaugaral Peter Brock Trophy was presented to Lowndes and his team-mate, Jamie Whincup.
[edit] Personal life
Craig is married to Natalie and they have two children: a son, Levi, and a daughter, Chilli. They live on a rural property on the outskirts of Brisbane, Queensland.
| Teams contesting the 2006 V8 Supercar Championship Series | |||||||||
| Stone Brothers Racing | Holden Racing Team | Tasman Motorsport | Ford Performance Racing | Jack Daniel's Racing | WPS Racing | ||||
| 1 Russell Ingall 4 James Courtney |
2 Mark Skaife 22 Todd Kelly |
3 Jason Richards 23 Andrew Jones |
5 Mark Winterbottom 6 Jason Bright |
7 Steven Richards 11 Paul Dumbrell |
8 Max Wilson 10 Jason Bargwanna |
||||
| Team BOC | Toll HSV Dealer Team | Dick Johnson Racing | Paul Cruickshank Racing | Fujitsu Racing | Garry Rogers Motorsport | ||||
| 12 John Bowe 14 Brad Jones |
15 Rick Kelly 16 Garth Tander |
17 Steven Johnson 18 Will Davison |
20 Marcus Marshall | 25 Warren Luff 26 Jose Fernandez |
33 Lee Holdsworth 34 Dean Canto |
||||
| Team Sirromet Wines | Supercheap Auto Racing | Autobarn Racing | Team Betta Electrical | Team Kiwi Racing | |||||
| 39 Alan Gurr 39 Fabian Coulthard 67 Paul Morris |
50 Cameron McConville 51 Greg Murphy |
55 Steve Owen | 88 Jamie Whincup 888 Craig Lowndes |
021 Paul Radisich | |||||
