Craig Andrew Lowndes was born on 21 June 1974 and is an Australian racing driver in the Repco Supercars Championship competing in the Holden ZB Commodore for Triple Eight Race Engineering.
54 Facts About Craig Lowndes
2.
On 6 July 2018, Craig Lowndes announced his intention to step down from full-time driving at the end of the 2018 season, continuing as a co-driver.
3.
In 2018 Craig Lowndes was recognised in the prestigious Australian Institute of Sport Performance Awards, as the ABC Sports Personality of the Year.
4.
On 16 March 2019, Craig Lowndes was inducted into the Australian Motor Sport Hall of Fame.
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Craig Lowndes began his racing career at age nine, driving go-karts at a track in the town of Whittlesea.
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Craig Lowndes moved up to race cars in 1991, driving a Van Diemen in the Motorcraft Formula Ford "Driver to Europe" Series.
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Craig 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.
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Craig Lowndes moved up to Australia's top rank of open wheel racing being Formula Brabham in 1994.
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Craig Lowndes looked sufficiently promising in testing that Lowndes was drafted into the No 015 Commodore with Brad Jones for the 1994 Sandown 500.
10.
Bowe retook a lap later and Craig Lowndes was forced to back off in the closing laps but second was an impressive achievement for a rookie driver.
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Craig 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.
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At his first attempt, Craig Lowndes won the championship and won both the Sandown and Bathurst races with teammate Greg Murphy.
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Craig Lowndes left Australia and went to Europe to further his open wheeler racing career, by competing with the RSM Marko Team in the 1997 International Formula 3000 Championship as teammate to Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya.
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Craig Lowndes was comprehensively beaten by his teammate, which resulted in his failure to find a budget to compete a second year.
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On his return to Australia, Craig Lowndes again won the 1997 Sandown 500 for HRT, partnered by New Zealander Greg Murphy.
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Craig Lowndes went on to win his second consecutive Championship, although the premature debut of the VT series Commodore would cruel his Bathurst campaign.
17.
The car was declared a write-off and Craig Lowndes was fortunate to only suffer a knee injury.
18.
Dissatisfaction within HRT triggered Craig 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.
19.
Craig Lowndes signed with the factory-sponsored Ford Performance Racing team for the 2003 season.
20.
Craig Lowndes finished 20th in the championship, causing him to leave the team at the end of 2004.
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Craig Lowndes joined Triple Eight Race Engineering in 2005 and enjoyed his most successful season since switching to Ford.
22.
Craig Lowndes 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.
23.
At the V8 Gala Awards, Craig 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.
24.
Craig Lowndes was a contender for the championship right up until the last race, being level on points with Rick Kelly.
25.
The win was a very emotional one for Craig Lowndes, being the first Bathurst 1000 held since the death of his long-time mentor Peter Brock at a road rally the month before.
26.
Craig Lowndes eventually finished second in the 2006 V8 Supercar season.
27.
Kelly received a drive-through penalty and went on to finish the race in 18th position and seal the championship victory, while Craig Lowndes finished the race 31st.
28.
Craig Lowndes won the Barry Sheene Medal for the second year in a row.
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Craig Lowndes had three victories in 2007, the sixth round at Hidden Valley Raceway, and both the endurance races: the Sandown 500 and the Bathurst 1000.
30.
Craig Lowndes finished third place in the championship, while his teammate, Jamie Whincup, finished second.
31.
In 2009, Craig Lowndes started the year with a brand new Ford FG Falcon.
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Craig Lowndes placed fourth in the championship with podiums in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Queensland Raceway and Winton.
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Craig Lowndes 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.
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Craig Lowndes finished off the year by winning the Sydney 500, and taking out the Barry Sheene Medal for the third time.
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Craig Lowndes backed up his campaign in 2011 by again finishing second to Whincup the following season.
36.
Craig Lowndes ended the season in 2nd for the third consecutive year, all behind Jamie Whincup.
37.
In 2015, Craig Lowndes became the first driver to reach 100 race wins in the V8 Supercar championship.
38.
Craig Lowndes capped off a brilliant campaign by placing second in the championship and winning his sixth Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 with Steven Richards.
39.
Craig Lowndes scored his 5th Barry Sheene Medal and won the Most Popular Driver award for the third year in succession.
40.
In 2016, Craig Lowndes rejoined long-time Triple Eight Race Engineering technical director Ludo Lacroix as his Engineer under Team Vortex livery Craig Lowndes won his first race of the year at the Perth SuperSprint, where he charged through the field after taking on a two-stop strategy.
41.
At the Sydney SuperSprint, Craig 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 Craig Lowndes to win 100 races.
42.
In January, Craig Lowndes peeled back the covers of the Autobarn Craig Lowndes Racing Holden ZB Commodore in which he would compete in 2018, and confirmed he would be partnered by Steven Richards in the Pirtek Enduro Cup.
43.
At Tasmania, Craig 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.
44.
On 5 July, during the press conference at the Townsville 400, Craig Lowndes announced that he will retire from full-time competition at the end of the 2018 championship.
45.
Craig Lowndes will remain with Triple Eight Race Engineering as an endurance driver.
46.
On 7 October 2018, Craig Lowndes won his 7th Bathurst 1000 in a record time of 6 hours 1 minute with co-driver Steven Richards.
47.
Craig Lowndes is the second driver to win the cup more than once.
48.
In 2010, Craig Lowndes ventured off-road to compete in the Australasian Safari with a Holden Colorado at his disposal.
49.
Craig Lowndes won the Rally Raid at his first attempt with a margin of over one hour back to second place.
50.
Craig Lowndes crashed out of the lead of the Safari the following year.
51.
Since the Bathurst 12 Hour race was changed to allow FIA GT3 cars in 2011, Craig Lowndes has been a regular competitor in the race.
52.
Craig Lowndes finally won the race in 2014 driving a Ferrari 458 GT3 for Maranello Motorsport alongside fellow Aussies John Bowe and Peter Edwards, and ex-Formula One driver, Mika Salo of Finland.
53.
On 5 February 2017, Craig 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.
54.
In 2011, Craig Lowndes confirmed his amicable separation from his previous marriage.