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Craig Lowndes

Craig Lowndes was born in Melbourne, Victoria on June 21, 1974. Lowndes is an Australian racing driver,three time V8 Supercar champion and three time Bathurst 1000 winner.

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.

Early career

He moved up to race cars in 1991, driving a Van Diemen 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 in 1993 which qualified him for the Formula Ford Festival in England that same year, where he finished third. Lowndes moved up to Australia's top rank of open wheel racing being Formula Brabham in 1994. His success in Formula Brabham driving an ageing Cheetah 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 Teams testing crew. He looked sufficiently promising in testing that Lowndes was drafted into the #015 Commodore with Brad Jones for the 1994 Sandown 500. It was expected to be a one-off performance as Rickard Rydell from the BTCC Volvo sister team within TWR was to join the team for Bathurst. His performance at Sandown was enough to cancel Rydell's appointment and Lowndes went to Bathurst.

After a gruelling double-stint by Jones, Lowndes began the final stint of the race as the premier challenger to the DJR Falcon of John Bowe which had dominated the race. With eleven laps to go Lowndes stunned the touring car establishment overtaking Bowe on the outside of Griffins Bend in a move that made him a household name. 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.

A year later Lowndes qualified on pole for the Bathurst 1000, only for his Holden Racing Team Commodore to DNF early on in the race when both HRT cars experienced oil pressure problems and engine failure during the race. HRT had seen enough however and for the 1996 season replaced Tomas Mezera full time in the team. At his first attempt, he won the championship and also won both the Sandown and Bathurst races with team-mate Greg Murphy.

His Bathurst 1000 victory in 1996 making Craig Lowndes the youngest winner of the Bathurst 1000, at the time. With Lowndes and Greg Murphy the youngest ever driver pairing to win the Bathust 1000.

Formula 3000

To the surprise of some of his fans, Lowndes left Australia and went to Europe to further his open wheeler racing career, by competing with the RSM Marko Team in the International Formula 3000 Championship as team-mate to Columbian Juan Pablo Montoya. He enjoyed limited success but failed to find the budget to compete a second year.

Australian return

On his return to Australia, Lowndes again won the Sandown 500 for HRT, partnered by New Zealander Greg Murphy. Together with back to back race wins at Sandown in the enduros. He resumed his racing seat with the Holden Racing Team, alongside new team-mate Mark Skaife, shuffling Greg Murphy into a test-driving role. Lowndes again proved difficult to catch and went on to win the 1998 Championship, although the premature debut of the VT series Commodore would cruel his Bathurst campaign.

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 at Calder Park Raceway. 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, 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 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.

Ford

Disatisfaction 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 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. Gibson Motor Sport 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.

Ford Performance Racing

Lowndes signed with the factory-sponsored Ford Performance Racing team for the 2003 season. Lowndes won a round of the V8 Supercar championship at Philip Island and, with team-mate Glenn Seton, placed second at Bathurst. But the season was a relative disappointment for Lowndes as he was relatively inconsistent, mainly due to mechanical failures. Technical problems continued into 2004, 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.

Triple 8 Race Engineering

Lowndes joined Team Betta Electrical in 2005 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.

At the V8 Gala Awards, Lowndes was awarded the Barry Sheene Medal, an award akin to Most Valuable Player 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. Marcos Ambrose won it in 2003 and 2004, winning the championship in both years. Hence this made Lowndes the first non championship winner to take out the award.

Lowndes was a contender for the championship right up until the last race, being level on points with Rick Kelly. 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 his long-time mentor Peter Brock at a road rally the month before. As winners of the Bathurst 1000, the inaugural Peter Brock Trophy was presented to Lowndes and his team-mate, Jamie Whincup.

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 team mates over the first two races, Lowndes was level on championship points with Kelly after race 2 (of 3) in the final round. A crash involving Kelly where light contact was made going into the hairpin resulted in Will Davison making contact with Lowndes, damaging his vehicle. Despite receiving a drive-through penalty, Kelly went on to finish the race in 18th position and seal the championship victory, while Lowndes finished the race 31st. Kelly was booed by Ford fans when he was on the podium to receive his trophy.

Lowndes and Triple Eight Racing lodged a protest and a hearing was set up. The protest was dismissed after a long hearing and Rick Kelly 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, and both the endurance classics, the Sandown 500 and the Bathurst 1000. He finished third place in the championship. His team mate, Jamie Whincup, came second in the V8 Supercar Championship.

Racing career

Season	Series	Position	Car	Team
1991	"Champion of Winton" Formula Ford Series	1st	Van Diemen RF85 Ford
1992	Motorcraft Fomula Ford Driver to Europe Series	6th	Van Diemen RF85 Ford Reynard FF88 Ford
1993	Australian Formula Ford Championship	1st	Van Diemen RF93 Ford
1994	Australian Drivers' Championship	4th	Cheetah Mk9 Holden	Brian Sampson
1994	Australian Silver Star	1st	Cheetah Mk9 Holden	Brian Sampson
1996	Australian Touring Car Championship	1st	Holden Commodore VR	Holden Racing Team
1997	International Formula 3000 Championship	17th	Lola T96/50 Zytek	RSM Marko
1998	Australian Touring Car Championship	1st	Holden Commodore VS Holden Commodore VT	Holden Racing Team
1999	V8Supercar Championship Series	1st	Holden Commodore VT	Holden Racing Team
2000	V8Supercar Championship Series	3rd	Holden Commodore VT	Holden Racing Team
2001	V8Supercar Championship Series	11th	Ford Falcon AU	Gibson Motor Sport
2002	V8Supercar Championship Series	7th	Ford Falcon AU	00 Motorsport
2003	V8Supercar Championship Series	5th	Ford Falcon BA	Ford Performance Racing
2004	V8Supercar Championship Series	20th	Ford Falcon BA	Ford Performance Racing
2005	V8Supercar Championship Series	2nd	Ford Falcon BA	Betta Electrical Racing
2006	V8Supercar Championship Series	2nd	Ford Falcon BA	Betta Electrical Racing
2007	V8Supercar Championship Series	3rd	Ford Falcon BF	TeamVodafone
2008	V8Supercar Championship Series	Currently 8th as of 5/8/2008	Ford Falcon BF	TeamVodafone