At the 2024 Bathurst 1000, Craig Lowndes will be entering his fourth decade of campaigning in Australia’s Great Race.

Over the course of his 30 race starts to date, Lowndes has amassed an incredible seven victories, second on the all-time list to Peter Brock and equal with the legendary Jim Richards.

Meanwhile, his 14 podium finishes see him stand alone on top of the charts, ahead of the 12 earned by Peter Brock, Larry Perkins, and Richards.

Some of the statistics garnered from his career to date are stunning. For example, from 2003 up until 2015, Lowndes earned five wins, ten podiums, 12 top-tens, and 11 top-five finishes.

The story of Lowndes at The Mountain kicked off when he was fresh from Formula Ford success, which in itself opened doors for a generation of youngsters to follow.

After a strong debut at the 1994 Sandown 500, Lowndes was retained by the Holden Racing Team for the Tooheys 1000 alongside Brad Jones. After a crash in the sodden warm-up and a wild spin on top of The Mountain early in the race not caught by the television cameras, Lowndes found himself in a prime position late, chasing down John Bowe aboard the front-running Falcon. Incredibly, the then 20-year-old made a huge move around the outside of Bowe stick at Griffins Bend to take the lead. Unfortunately for Lowndes, a backmarker crossed his path shortly afterwards at Murray’s Corner, which interrupted his momentum and saw Bowe dive past, ultimately claiming the win.

Some 20 years later, in 2014, Lowndes would combine with Bowe to win the Bathurst 12 Hour.

For 1995, Lowndes was retained by the HRT and lined up alongside Greg Murphy, although that outing was rock bottom for the squad, with both team cars sidelined with engine failures by lap 32. One highlight for Lowndes was claiming pole in the final ever Tooheys Top Gun, leading home Mark Skaife by half a second.

Bathurst 1996 was the culmination of a remarkable full-time rookie season for Lowndes. Replacing Tomas Mezera at the HRT alongside his mentor Peter Brock, Lowndes swept all before him in the Australian Touring Car Championship, easily winning the title by virtue of victory in six of the ten rounds. After securing the Sandown 500 win alongside Greg Murphy, the pair continued on to claim a rain-affected race at Bathurst. By sweeping the ATCC-Sandown-Bathurst treble in a season, Lowndes joined Brock as the only two drivers to ever achieve the feat, an achievement that still stands today.

After a difficult year in international F3000 competition, in 1997, Lowndes returned home to join Murphy once more for the V8 enduros. Sadly, while placed strongly in the early running, Lowndes ran wide while lapping a slower car and hit the wall on the run into McPhillamy Park, ending his day.

Returning to compete full-time in Australia in 1998, Lowndes teamed with Mark Skaife aboard the new HRT VT Commodore, with the squad proving to be the one to beat. However, a pair of costly tyre failures cruelled their race, with the car ultimately finishing a couple of laps off the pace in sixth.

The 1999 FAI 1000 saw Lowndes return to the podium, this time paired with Cameron McConville. The combo led home an HRT 2-3 in the race behind Steven Richards/Greg Murphy. It was the first time that The Great Race had been a part of the V8 Supercars championship, and the result saw Lowndes secure his third series title in as many attempts.

Fast forward to 2000, and Lowndes was once again partnered with Skaife, with the outfit in the thick of the battle for the win. While Skaife was scrapping with Neil Crompton for the lead late, the duo stumbled across the lapped car of Matthew Neal, with resulting damage sending the HRT Commodore to the pits with a flat tyre. They eventually finished a minute off the lead in sixth.

For 2001, Lowndes moved across to the Ford camp, lining up alongside Crompton in the famous Green Eyed Monster AU Falcon for the endurance races. That particular campaign was derailed early, when the lapped Budweiser Falcon of Mark Noske cut across the nose of the 00 Motorsport machine on lap 28 at Forest’s Elbow. By the chequered flag, the team were classified in 17^th.

There was more heartbreak for Lowndes and Crompton in 2002, with the car once again running strongly late in the race before the Falcon’s front grill became blocked by a plastic bag. The squad retired due to overheating on lap 127.

For 2003, Lowndes moved across to the newly formed Ford Performance Racing, where he lined up alongside Glenn Seton. The pair combined in a new BA Falcon to claim second place behind Greg Murphy and Rick Kelly.

The second verse was the same as the first, with Lowndes/Seton once again finishing second to Murphy/Kelly in the 2004 Bob Jane T-Marts Bathurst 1000. The result was a highlight of a tough second season for Lowndes at FPR, which saw the CAT Falcon suffer multiple mechanical woes.

In 2005, Lowndes found a new home at Triple Eight Race Engineering and, for the endurance races, lined up alongside French ace Yvan Muller. After winning at Sandown, dominating qualifying and topping the shootout, the team was the car to beat on race day. However, things unravelled when Lowndes tapped the wall on top of the hill early, which displaced the car’s Watts linkage. Once back on track, the machine was collected by an errant wheel that smashed its windscreen, which, when removed, resulted in a cold afternoon of Mountain motoring. The pair were classified 15^th at the finish.

The 2006 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 was when things all came together for Lowndes on The Mountain. The event proved to be dramatic, following closely after the death of Lowndes’ mentor Peter Brock, with race day tributes seeing emotions boil over. At the end of the race, Lowndes, now paired with Jamie Whincup, resisted a sustained attack from Rick Kelly to claim the maiden Peter Brock Trophy by half a second.

In 2007, Lowndes and Whincup went back-to-back at Bathurst, although it was far from plain sailing for the now Vodafone-backed team. After a brilliant final stint, Whincup ran wide entering the pits for his last stop, which lost the combination ground. Mark Winterbottom found himself in the lead, but with the heavens opening, he went sailing through the gravel trap at the Chase. With the field stuck on slick tyres on a wet track, a wild finish to the race saw Lowndes overcome the advances of Steven Johnson. The final victory margin was once again less than a second.

Victory in 2008 saw Lowndes and Wincup secure a three-peat of successes at Bathurst, with the crew joining Peter Brock/Larry Perkins (1982-’84), Peter Brock/Jim Richards (1978-’80), and Bob Jane/Harry Firth (1961-’63 Phillip Island/Bathurst) in achieving the feat. This time, the 888 Falcon won by a relatively comfortable 2.5sec from Jason Richards and Greg Murphy.

In 2009, Lowndes/Whincup fell short of repeating Jane’s string of four wins from back in 1964, when their FG Falcon suffered driveline issues late. The pair were eventually listed in fifth, 4.6sec behind winners Garth Tander/Will Davison.

Lowndes struck back in 2010 to claim his fifth Bathurst 1000 title, with the Triple Eight team switching to Holden. This time, Lowndes finally got the job done with Mark Skaife, after regular team drivers were banned from combining in the race. It was a big weekend for Lowndes – in practice, he recorded the fastest-ever official lap of the circuit to that point, with a 2:06.8012sec time, while the race shattered the previous record, with the 161 laps completed in only 6h12m51.4153sec. This made it the first Bathurst enduro to be completed at an average speed faster than 160km/h or 100mph. It was also a Triple Eight team 1-2 result, the first time the feat had been achieved since Peter Brock led home a Holden Dealer Team form finish in 1984.

Lowndes and Skaife combined once more in 2011, but this time they fell just short of victory. Lowndes pushed Garth Tander all the way to the finish, trailing the HRT Commodore by only 0.3sec at the chequered flag.

In 2012, an early tyre failure caused the Lowndes/Warren Luff Commodore to get behind the eight ball, forcing them to stack behind the sister Triple Eight Commodore of Jamie Whincup/Paul Dumbrell, who eventually claimed a slender victory over David Reynolds/Dean Canto. Lowndes and Luff finished third in a car carrying a Peter Brock tribute livery.

The 2013 Bathurst 1000 saw a repeat result for Lowndes and Luff, who finished third, this time behind Mark Winterbottom/Steven Richards and Triple Eight stablemates Whincup/Dumbrell. Lowndes was engaged in a heated battle late in the race that saw him get the better of both Garth Tander and Jason Bright in the closing laps.

The 2014 running of the Bathurst 1000 will forever go down in the books as one of the craziest on record. The drama truly kicked off in Saturday morning practice, when Lowndes was comprehensively cleaned up by the brakeless Warren Luff at Griffins Bend. The damage eliminated the HRT car for the weekend on the spot, while hurried repairs to the Triple Eight machine saw it return to the track for the shootout, where Lowndes bravely placed sixth. Lowndes was battling for the lead late, but a tangle with the Ford of Mark Winterbottom resulted in a penalty, which saw he and Steven Richards eventually bring their Navy-inspired Commodore home in tenth.

Lowndes and Richards returned to the top step of the podium in 2015 from 15^th on the grid. In a race with mixed conditions, car 888 took advantage of a penalty for the sister team car of Whincup, who passed the safety car late in the running. Following a smart getaway from the final restart, Lowndes held on to victory over Mark Winterbottom/Steve Owen by 1.4sec.

In 2016, Triple Eight expanded to three entries, with Lowndes aboard a Caltex-sponsored Commodore. At Bathurst, he and Richard’s race unravelled early, with a broken gear linkage setting the car several laps behind the field. The team finally placed 16^th.

One of the wettest Bathursts on record in 2017 saw Lowndes and Richards placed 11^th, with a broken rollbar and other car issues dropping the combination off the lead lap at the finish.

Lowndes and Richards bounced back in 2018 to repeat their 2015 victory. In Lowndes’ final season as a full-time driver, he took advantage of the field faltering around him – Jamie Whincup/Paul Dumbrell lost a tyre early, while David Reynolds succumbed to cramps while leading late.

For 2019, Lowndes once again combined with Jamie Whincup and was in the thick of the competition throughout. Ultimately, from a drama-charged race, they had to settle for fourth, only 2.6 seconds behind winners Scott McLaughlin/Alex Premat.

The 2020 Great Race was a tough one for the combination of Lowndes and Whincup, with Whincup coming to grief against the wall at The Cutting on lap 32, relegating the combo to last on the result sheet.

In 2021, Lowndes and Whincup paired once more to reprise their 2019 result, with the crew placing fourth, 7 seconds behind winners Chaz Mostert and Lee Holdsworth.

The 2022 Bathurst 1000 was the start of the wildcard era for Lowndes at Bathurst. For his first foray aboard a Triple Eight prepared Supercheap Auto-backed Commodore, Lowndes combined with that season’s Super2 Series champion Declan Fraser to finish eighth, amidst a field of 19 finishers on the lead lap.

For his second wildcard start in 2023, Lowndes partnered up with Zane Goddard, although their charge was derailed by multiple gear shift issues, an affliction that also impacted the other two cars in the Triple Eight camp. Lowndes/Goddard were the last classified finishers in 24^th.