Fan favourite Lowndes is this year paired with reigning Super2 Series winner Zach Bates in his fourth and final year aboard the Triple Eight-run Supercheap Auto wildcard.
At 193cm, the lanky 21-year-old is 11cm taller than Lowndes, flipping the usual script for the 51-year-old veteran.
“This is the first time I’ve had a co-driver that’s taller than me. It might be me putting a little baby seat insert in rather than him!” Lowndes told Speedcafe.
Lowndes has had 13 different co-drivers across his 31 Great Race starts to date including Warren Luff, who at 183cm is near-enough to his own height.
Triple Eight has dealt with tall drivers in the recent past, including Shane van Gisbergen, who at 188cm didn’t initially fit in the Gen3 prototype cars.
That forced an early redesign, while adopting a sliding pedal box makes it easier for teams to accommodate drivers of different heights in the Gen3 cars.
Secure your spot today.
“The complexity of Zach’s height is something we’ve had to counteract a little bit with the car, making sure the pedal box goes far enough away,” Lowndes added.
“I think the pedal box is literally at the firewall.
“He drove the car at a ride day and we didn’t have that adjustability in the car at the time, but he didn’t complain, he just got on with the job. He’s one of those easygoing sort of guys.”
While reigning Super2 champ Bates is the new boy at Triple Eight trying to prove his worth in the main game field, Bathurst will mark Lowndes’ final start with the team.
Lowndes joined Triple Eight in 2005 and has won six of his seven Bathurst crowns with the squad but will part ways at year’s end amid its switch back to Ford.
Asked if he’s expecting it to be an emotional Bathurst, Lowndes said: “It always is when you leave a team, because obviously you’ve bonded with them, you’ve grown as a family.
“I was there almost from the beginning of Triple Eight, same as Jamie [Whincup], and to sign off this year is something very special for me.
“Once we get to Bathurst, I think it will be bit more emotional, of course, but both Zach and I are focused on finishing this program off on a high and, for me, closing that chapter.”
The other significant piece of history awaiting Lowndes this year is that his 32nd start in the Great Race will equal the marker set by his late mentor, Peter Brock.
Only Jim Richards, with 35, has more starts in the history of the hallowed event.
“For me it’s just another stat, but it’s also exciting knowing that I’ve been able to be around the category as long as I have to create that stat,” said Lowndes of matching Brock’s marker.
“Brock was very instrumental in my upbringing, and when I first got involved in ’94, ’95. It’s a great stat, but I don’t think I’ll be thinking about that when I put my helmet on come race time.”
Lowndes’ Bathurst victories in 1996, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2015 and 2018 put him just two behind Brock’s record tally of nine wins.
Although confirmed to be staying with GM and understood to be keen to race on, Lowndes’ driving plans beyond this year’s Great Race are currently unknown.
Discussion about this post