Supercars great Craig Lowndes will get chance to pass another Peter Brock Bathurst benchmark
Craig Lowndes will be given the chance to continue racing Supercars at Bathurst beyond this year, despite his decision to leave the Triple Eight racing team.
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Supercars great Craig Lowndes will get the chance to overtake another Bathurst 1000 benchmark of his late mentor Peter Brock after General Motors confirmed it wants to field a wildcard for him next year after he leaves Triple Eight.
As General Motors announced Team 18 as the new homologation team for Chevrolet Racing to replace Triple Eight ahead of the powerhouse squad’s impending switch to Ford in 2026, the manufacturer said it was keen to see Lowndes keep his remarkable run of consecutive starts in the Great Race alive beyond this year.
Lowndes will again campaign in a Triple Eight wildcard for this season’s endurance races, but will end his association with the team at the end of the year.
The seven-time Bathurst 1000 champion announced in March he would not be renewing his contract with Triple Eight ahead of the team’s Ford switch, ending a two-decade relationship with the championship-winning squad.
Lowndes has been a long-time ambassador for GM and Chevrolet Racing and has extended this role with the brand.
The three-time V8 series champion last year surpassed Brock’s marker of 30 consecutive Bathurst 1000 starts and would have the chance to overtake the King of the Mountain for overall Bathurst 1000 starts in 2026 for what would be his 33rd start.
GM said on Friday it wanted to create a new wildcard for Lowndes, although no details have yet been locked in.
“We would very much like to see that happen,” GM’s Chris Payne said.
“We are not confirming that today. There is more work to do in that space. We have recontracted with Craig for the long-term as an ambassador for our organisation.
“And it would be logical that he would partner with one of the Chevrolet teams and we have got to work our way through that.”
The Lowndes wildcard prospect came as General Motors announced a new alliance among the Chevrolet Supercars teams along with its homologation announcement.
Team 18 acknowledged the “big shoes” it had to fill as the new homologation team, but was confident it had the experienced engineering team to do it.
Melbourne-based Team 18, which fields drivers David Reynolds and Anton De Pasquale, has former Supercars head of motorsport Adrian Burgess as its team principal, which was a factor in the team’s appointment over PremiAir Racing.
“Today marks an exciting new chapter for Team 18 Racing. There is no doubt that these are big shoes to fill, but I believe we have the team, the machinery, and the talent to do it,” Team 18 owner Charlie Schwerkolt said.
“GM and Chevrolet Racing are a powerhouse for a reason, and everyone, at every level, has been fantastic in welcoming our team to the fold. I know we share the same vision, and the same goal – to work closely with GM and all the other Chevy teams to see a Chevrolet Camaro cross the line first every race weekend.”
While Triple Eight is switching to the Blue Oval, GM was hopeful of retaining all of the other Chevrolet teams with newcomer Toyota to join the grid from next year.
Team 18, PremiAir Racing, Erebus Motorsport, Brad Jones Racing and Matt Stone Racing all currently race Chevrolet Camaros.
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Originally published as Supercars great Craig Lowndes will get chance to pass another Peter Brock Bathurst benchmark
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