The Supercars legend will drive for a Supercars team other than Triple Eight for the first time in two decades this season, siding with Chevrolet after T8 defected to Ford.
He will continue to head up the Supercheap Auto-backed wildcard program, which has moved from T8 to Team 18.
Today Lowndes scored his first taste of Team 18 machinery, jumping in Anton De Pasquale’s Camaro during a corporate ride day at SMP.
And the seven-time Bathurst 1000 winner was impressed.
“It’s been great,” he said. “Coming into a brand new team you don’t know what to expect, but Team 18 run a very slick operation.
“Driving the car was really nice, it was good to get a feel for it. Little, small differences from where I’ve come from and Team 18 , but in a good, positive way.
“I think the steering input and the weight of the steering is really nice. The car itself felt really solid and nice in a lot of ways.
“The ergonomics, I sat in Anton’s car and it feels like at home again, so that side of it has been great. I’m just happy to be part of the ream and looking forward to the future.”
Lowndes will share the Supercheap Camaro with ex-Carrera Cup racer turned Super2 debutant Bayley Hall, who also cut his first laps in Gen3 hardware during the ride day.
“It’s the first time he’s sat in a Gen3 car so it’s really nice he got an opportunity to feel the car, sit in the car [and] drive the car,” said Lowndes.
“The first thing he said is the difference between the Super2 Commodore and the Gen3 Chevy is these Gen3 cars have a lot more mechanical grip. He was really excited and felt really comfortable.”
Team 18 made an impressive start to the 2026 season, De Pasquale scoring a well-earned win on Saturday night in Sydney to open GM’s account.
“I think that the first one is important to set a standard and a bit of momentum,” said Lowndes. “Anton has definitely done that.
“It shows promise in the team that the car is fast.”
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