Triple Eight Race Engineering is once again rolling out a third entry for the Bathurst 1000, as well as the Sandown 500 and a solo start for the younger half of the driving crew at Hidden Valley.
While Zane Goddard already had a full season of Supercars Championship competition under his belt when he undertook those three events in the #888 Chevrolet Camaro in 2023, Declan Fraser, like Murray this year, was a rookie in 2022 in the Supercheap Auto car.
“For me, my role is more of the off-track side of it,” Lowndes told Speedcafe.
“I shared the last couple of years with Declan and Zane; when they put a helmet on, when they put them in a car, they’re fine.
“It’s all the outside, exterior stuff that we’ve got to get them up to speed with and get Cooper to come out of his shell a bit, to talk to you [media], to talk to others, and have a bit of a personality.
“My role is a little bit that side of it but also to guide them through the week, especially Bathurst, knowing that it’s a big long week and not to burn them out before we get to Sunday.”
In that regard, Lowndes is emulating the role which the legendary Peter Brock played when he burst onto the scene as a 20-year-old at the Holden Racing Team in 1994.
Then, testing was unlimited, whereas Murray enjoyed his first day in Car #888 earlier this week.
“It’s just nice to give them an opportunity to step up into the main game and to sort of put them under a little bit of pressure,” said Lowndes.
“First year, I qualified; second year, Zane qualified; not sure what’s going to happen this year with Cooper and I.
“But, at the moment, we’re just getting his brain into gear for Darwin and getting him to understand obviously the philosophy of the team, the mentality of the team, work with [Race Engineer] Wes McDougall, getting all that clicky-ness going, and also understanding how Cooper likes the car, how he reads the car, direction he wants to take the car in, which is very similar to mine – when in get in the car, I like it the same way – so that’s a really good, positive way.”
Murray will race the Supercheap Auto Camaro for the first time at the Betr Darwin Triple Crown on June 14-16.
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