A two-time outright winner of the race, it’s been eight years since Lowndes last won the Bathurst 12 Hour – but he stands a good chance of victory again in 2025.
This year’s race is flush with top GT3 talent from around the world. Lowndes is part of arguably the strongest all-Australian line-up with Tickford Racing stars Cameron Waters and Thomas Randle.
The trio will share a Scott Taylor Motorsport-run Mercedes-AMG GT3 for the second year running.
Their 2024 campaign was dogged by reliability issues that left them down on straight-line speed – and with that rectified, Lowndes is optimistic they’ll be contenders.
“I think all three of us were a bit disappointed,” Lowndes said of his 2024 campaign, speaking with Speedcafe at a recent Sydney Motorsport Park test.
“We had a few issues with the car that we’ve now rectified. We’ve all driven the car since. That was Cam’s first opportunity since we’ve refurbished the car and he’s really happy. Thomas is really happy. I did a good test day at The Bend three weeks ago and I was really happy.
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“The three of us have probably got some unfinished business, but again we’re going into this year with a car that we know that we’ll be faster than last year’s car, and we weren’t far off last year. We’re really positive.
“We had an issue last year with the engine. We were about 20 horsepower down and were about 8km/h slower down Conrod, so we found the problem, fixed the problem.
“Even here [at Sydney Motorsport Park] we’re faster down the chute than we were testing last year. It gives us more confidence knowing that at least we don’t have to fight our way down Conrod. We can run with them and chase them.”
Last year, Lowndes, Waters, and Randle finished seventh overall and 16 seconds off the race lead by the chequered flag.
If not for their technical troubles, Lowndes believes the team had a shot at the win – and the same is true going into the 2025 race.
“Realistically we’re all hoping. We want to be on the podium somewhere,” said Lowndes.
“We were strong last year. The car wasn’t perfect, but we were strong.
“Cam was leading the race at one point there, so we know that we’ve got a group of people, the team, drivers, that are capable of doing it.
“We’ve got to stay out of trouble, do the right things, and we’ll definitely be in the show somewhere.”
Waters is also optimistic about their chances. This year is only his fourth start and his third in a Mercedes-AMG GT3.
“We’re going there to win it for sure, that’s the number one goal,” he told Speedcafe.
“I think we’ve got all the ingredients to be able to do it, but there are so many good teams going there this year.
“It’s gonna be super challenging but we’ve got a good team around us, good driver line-up, and a good couple of days of testing here at SMP as well.
“We’ll get up there, try and make no mistakes and then be there at the end. It’d be awesome to be able to get a win there.”
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