Australian touring car legend John Bowe has revealed that he considered a switch to Carrera Cup for 2012.
The two-time Bathurst 1000 victor, who won last year’s Touring Car Masters, has committed to competing in the historic class again in his title-winning Ford Mustang.
But he admits that he was tempted by a change of scenery to the one-make all-Porsche class.
“I looked at my team doing Carrera Cup. It has appeal for me, but when I weighed it up, Carrera Cup is for young guys trying to carve their niche in life,” Bowe told Speedcafe.com.
“I was interested because I like GT cars and Porsches and cars like that. They are a much more pure race car.”
Next month, Bowe will get his ‘GT’ fix, competing in a Ferrari in the Armor All Bathurst 12 Hour.
While the evergreen racer admitted to considering a full attack at Carrera Cup, he says that his final decision was a no-brainer.
“From my point of view, I make my money and living by being a car and car racing person. The profile I derive from Touring Car Masters is better than I can get from anything else, other than V8 Supercars. It wasn’t really a hard decision for me to stay in the class,” he said.
“I truly love the class. The performance of Glenn Seton’s car was everything I expected from a Cleveland-engined XB Coupe. We’re just going to have to try and stay ahead of him this year.
“I’m sure Jimmy Richards’ new Javelin will be a beauty too, and that’s what you have to love about the class – there’s always new things going on and new things happening.
“And the cars are beasts to drive. They have well over 600 horsepower, and they have 8 inch wheels – they are pretty flawed motor vehicles!”
Bowe has unveiled a revised look for his Mustang this year (pictured) which will be seen for the first time at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide on March 1-4.
