The deal marks a continuation of the Supercars legend’s journey in off-road racing following his class win for Chevrolet at the Finke Desert Race last month.
This time he will make his first non-Finke start in the Australian Off-Road Championship in the side-by-side category.
He will team up with Finke-winning navigator Dale Moscatt in a Can-Am owned by Tony and Jodie Whateley, who also own the Loveday Adventure Park where the iconic event is held.
“We had a fantastic win at Finke and I’m really enjoying this off-road caper,” said Lowndes.
“I’m incredibly grateful to Tony and Jodie for giving Dale and I the opportunity to jump straight into their Can-Am Maverick R for the next round of the AORC.
“We’re very mindful that it’s Tony’s own race vehicle, but he’s a racer through and through so he wants us to enjoy ourselves, put on a show for the fans and see what we can achieve.
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“Loveday has been a fantastic venue for us each time we’ve tested there and I’m sure it’s going to be an exciting challenge to race there.
“The Maverick R is an incredible machine. I had the opportunity to ride with Jodie at Loveday a few months ago and was blown away by the capability of the car.
“It responds brilliantly to driver inputs and handles the bumps and whoops exceptionally well.
“I’ll take a measured approach early on, but from everything I’ve seen and heard this platform gives me confidence we’re going to have a lot of fun at Loveday.
“Every event teaches me something new, and Dale and I are looking forward to seeing what we can achieve.”
Moscatt, an accomplished co-driver in both the rally and off-road worlds, has been impressed with Lowndes’ ability to adapt to an entirely new discipline.
“Finke was an outstanding result and a reward for the hard work put in by the entire team,” said Moscatt.
“Craig has adapted incredibly well to the unique demands of off-road racing.
“It’s very different to circuit racing because communication between driver and navigator is critical. We’ve spent a lot of time refining our pace notes and our in-car communication during both reconnaissance and race conditions.
“The pace notes are definitely helping accelerate Craig’s development in this discipline and he’s doing an awesome job.”
The Loveday 400 takes place on July 23-26.
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