HIS name might be above the door, but don’t expect to see Craig Lowndes running the show when he steps out of the Supercars cockpit for the final time.
The 43-year-old veteran has called Triple Eight Race Engineering home since 2005 and penned his latest deal with them in May last year, one which takes him through to the end of the 2019 season.
But while his new squad may be branded as Autobarn Lowndes Racing, team ownership is not on Lowndes’ radar.
LIVE stream every race of the 2018 Supercars Championship AD-FREE on FOX SPORTS. Get your free 2-week Foxtel Now trial and start watching in minutes. SIGN UP NOW >
“I always want to be part of a team and be involved in a team, there’s no doubt about that.
“But actually owning a team? I’ve got enough grey hair now, I don’t need any more from worrying about whether the sponsorship’s coming or going, or employees.
“For me, Roland (Dane, team owner) runs a very good ship. I’d be happy to stay at Triple Eight long term if we can get a position within the team and do something else beyond driving, if and when that point comes.”
Logo for Autobarn Lowndes Racing.Source: Supplied
Only time will reveal when that point will be, but Lowndes makes clear that he has no intention staying past his used-by date.
“I think it’s really going to come down to how these next two years unfold; how motivated I am at the end of this year and next year,” he said.
“Roland and I have talked about it; I don’t want to sit in a seat of a car and just be a number man, you want to be competitive, you want to be at the front.
“Last year was probably one of the poorest years I’ve had in a decade and we’re very motivated to turn that around this year.
“You don’t want to be making up the numbers; you want to be there as a driver and a racer to hopefully win races and championships, if not win Bathursts and Sandowns.
“We’ll see how this year pans out. If 2020 turns into a co-driving role, I’m sure I’ll sit with Roland before then and we’ll make that work.”
Beyond that, Lowndes is eyeing a role in the media or as a mentor to younger drivers coming up through the ranks, much like his precocious talent was nurtured by Peter Brock.
“At the moment I haven’t even focused on or thought about it because I’ve been worried more about the driving, but definitely down the line I’d like to help someone develop,” Lowndes said.
“Todd Hazelwood, we spent some time with him at the Adelaide Festival of Speed and he’s a great kid, very enthusiastic, very level-headed. He’s got a great future in front of him.
“Hopefully with the experience and knowledge that we’ve got, we can help people like that to get into bigger and better teams and get the results they deserve.”
Confirmation of Garry Jacobson’s signing at Team Sydney means the 2021 Repco Supercars Championship grid is complete.
Jacobson fills the vacancy alongside Fabian Coulthard, who has moved from Dick Johnson Racing.
Team Sydney enters 2021 as one of three teams with an all-new driver line-up, alongside DJR and Erebus Motorsport.
Coulthard to lead Team Sydney
0:45
Triple Eight Race Engineering, Walkinshaw Andretti United, Brad Jones Racing and Team 18 will all field unchanged line-ups.
On Saturday, Kelly Grove Racing confirmed David Reynolds will replace the retiring Rick Kelly.
Tickford Racing, meanwhile, downsized to three cars following the exit of Lee Holdsworth. However, its three remaining drivers all drove for the team last season.
Matt Stone Racing has elevated Zane Goddard and Jake Kostecki, who shared the #34 entry in 2020, to full-time campaigns in 2020.
That forced Jacobson out the door at MSR, but he has been snaffled by Jonathon Webb’s Tekno-led squad.
Get all the latest supercars news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!!
While all 24 full-time drivers have been confirmed, several co-driver slots are yet to be locked in.
Garth Tander and Craig Lowndes will return to Triple Eight, while Michael Caruso and James Golding will line up for Team 18.
Tim Blanchard will share his CoolDrive Racing entry with recruit Tim Slade, Thomas Randle returns to Tickford, while IndyCar-bound Scott McLaughlin is slated to return for DJR.
The new-look grid will make its first competitive appearance at the 2021 season opener, the Mt Panorama 500, across February 26-28.
2021 Repco Supercars Championship grid
Dick Johnson Racing
Will Davison
Anton De Pasquale
Triple Eight Race Engineering
Jamie Whincup
Shane van Gisbergen
Tickford Racing
Jack Le Brocq
Cameron Waters
James Courtney
Blanchard Racing Team
Tim Slade
Walkinshaw Andretti United
Chaz Mostert
Bryce Fullwood
Erebus Motorsport
Will Brown
Brodie Kostecki
Kelly Racing
Andre Heimgartner
David Reynolds
Brad Jones Racing
Nick Percat
Todd Hazelwood
Macauley Jones
Jack Smith
Team 18
Scott Pye
Mark Winterbottom
Matt Stone Racing
Zane Goddard
Jake Kostecki
Team Sydney
Fabian Coulthard
Garry Jacobson
This story originally appeared on Supercars.com.au and is reproduced with permission.
Monaco Grand Prix organisers have insisted that the iconic Formula One race will go ahead this season, despite whispers that it would suffer a second cancellation in as many years.
Like the Australian Grand Prix last year, the Monaco edition was shelved due to COVID-19 as F1 decided to focus on ready-built circuits to fill the makeshift calendar, rather than temporary street circuits.
And with the Aus GP now being shifted from its traditional home as the season curtain raiser to a new November date, Monaco has now come under the spotlight.
A Dutch newspaper has claimed that Monaco, along with Azerbaijan and Canada, is in danger of being removed from the 2021 calendar as F1 again panics over the street races and the time it takes to build infrastructure for those events given the ongoing COVID pandemic.
Get all the latest F1 news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!!
Australian GP postponed until November
1:32
Monaco, Azerbaijan and Canada are currently scheduled as the fifth, sixth and seventh events of the season in late May and early June, meaning a major restructure of the 23-race season would be required.
But on Tuesday morning (AEDT), the Automobile Club de Monaco, which organises the F1 Grand Prix, as well as Formula E and Historic races, insisted that all events are still planned to go ahead.
“Despite the latest rumours circulating on certain websites and social media, the @ACM_Media can confirm the #MonacoGP will take place from May 20th to 23rd, 2021,” it said on Twitter.
“The ACM also confirms the #GrandPrixMonacoHistorique (April 23rd-25th 2021) and the #MonacoEPrix (May 8th 2021).”
An F1 spokesperson also dismissed the reports that the three races were in danger.
“We have set out the details of the revised 2021 calendar, and there are no other changes. The suggestion street races will not take place are completely wrong,” the F1 spokesperson said.
In the early years of his career, Nick Percat went from winning Bathurst on his first attempt in 2011 – the first rookie in 30 years to do so – to winning the Australian Formula Ford championship and breaking Steven Richards’ record for most race wins.
It hasn’t all been smooth sailing since then, with the veteran facing a turbulent journey with mixed results.
Talking to FoxSports.com.au, the 32-year-old opens up on the decision to re-sign with Brad Jones Racing, what the future of Supercars could look like, and that disqualification from the 2020 Bathurst 1000.
Coulthard to lead Team Sydney
0:45
Do you think that signing on for another two years took a lot of pressure off you throughout the season, and let you just focus on the racing? How important was that for you?
“Yes, there were a few reasons for that. I wanted to create a sense in the team that I was there for the long haul and not going anywhere. So, to sign a deal when you still had a full run on your contract, there was a little bit in that with myself and Brad (Jones) to make sure that everyone in Brad Jones racing knew what we had going forward, and we could really start to ramp up the development. Really remind the guys and the girls there that I am part of the furniture, and I am not going anywhere.”
Do you feel like that happened?
“I think so. I think it was a good thing. It obviously creates a positive vibe through the workshop and the race team. For me it was good because then you don’t have people knocking on the door every December saying are you free for next year?
“I wanted it to be clear that I was loyal and only interested in driving for Brad, so that was why we extended the deal early.”
Bathurst to open 2021 season
0:51
Incredibly sad news about the Adelaide 500 …
“It’s not ideal; there is a lot of positive chat around it. So, if the government was to change from Liberal to Labor in SA the race will be back on.
“I feel sorry for everyone in hospitality, obviously there is so much revenue that comes in. I feel sorry for the kids dreaming of being race car drivers, that they can’t go watch arguably one of the best races of the year, on the fence watching their heroes go around. It is disappointing, it is way more than a race, and I think that’s why there is so much push to get it reinstated.”
CHAOS on the final laps
1:59
You’ve had very mixed experiences at Bathurst, has your opinion of the race changed over the years or is still the greatest race?
“It is still the greatest race, the greatest track to go to. No other track that I’ve been to ever actually makes you second guess or gives you a little fright during practice because you have to scare yourself to be fast, and then you get comfortable with that level of commitment, and it continues from there.
“I had a very good run early in my career at Bathurst with wins and multiple podiums and inside the top five quite a lot, and then I’ve gone on this run of shocking results, but that’s what Bathurst is about.
“This year though we got to show how fast the car was. We got a bit of spotlight with (the) top ten shootout …. I still think it’s a very proud moment for Brad and the team that we are operating at this budget and we have taken it to the factory teams and outqualified them.
“That lap is a full pissing competition. It’s the top ten shootout at Bathurst, you lay your cards down on the line, and that’s where the teams get to beat their chests and go ‘look how fast we are.’”
Bathurst this year – a phenomenal shootout performance, and then disaster struck.
“Yes, the shootout lap was probably one of the best shootout laps in my career … I don’t know if I’ve ever been the first one out before, especially at that place, it was pretty interesting. On my warm-up lap … I just trusted that the car was going to hold on and that the car I was given was going to do the job.
“It was such an enjoyable lap … but obviously it all unravelled and didn’t go to plan shortly after the shootout. Still, for me personally, it was the most satisfying lap I had done in a shootout, and it was handy it was in Bathurst.”
Thomas Randle said it was a dream to co-drive with you, is the feeling mutual?
“For him, he sacrificed so much during the year … I think myself and the whole of BJR were very grateful for what he did, especially with the situation he had going on earlier in the year.
“It was a shame, and I really wanted to give him that fairy-tale result because I felt like it would have been fitting … but it wasn’t to be.
“But we had a pretty cool experience … hopefully I’ll have him driving again with me next year – but that’s the selfish Nick, he needs to be in the main game soon, and I think he deserves to be.”
Percat wins Sydney Supercars
1:42
If you could change one rule, what would it be?
“This year has been quite good, there has been less complaints from the drivers, and less niggling from the driving group back to the stewards.
“It would be good if you get rubbed up and pushed wide and if you retaliate in a similar manner where you end up swapping positions back again that is generally play on. That’s ended up in a time penalty in the past, which is quite silly, so to be honest, I am happy with that. Surprisingly, I’ve got nothing to complain about!
What do you think the future of Supercars looks like? Can we expect to see any changes?
“I hope the one thing that never changes is that we never lose the sequential gearbox on the gear stick. I don’t want paddles on the car. I don’t think we need to be like some hybrid GT car.
“There is a reason why the Australian and international fans love our cars. When you go on-board, there is a bit going on … I find GT racing very very boring, so I think the minute they go to paddles, it is probably going to kill my love for Supercars, which will be disappointing.”
