Lowndes to bring-in new year on Adelaide streets
16/8/2000 19:33 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) - Holden Racing Team spearhead Craig Lowndes will bring-in the new year behind the wheel of a Le Mans sportscar, after signing with the giant Panoz team to compete in the Adelaide American Le Mans Series event.
Lowndes will partner former Young Lion Mark Noske in the final round of the international series, to be held on the extended Adelaide Grand Prix street circuit this New Year’s Eve.
Australian fans will be in no doubt as to which team to throw their support behind, with Lowndes and Noske joining Aussie expat David Brabham in the three-car Panoz outfit.
Lowndes said he was excited about the event – which will see an international field of exotic sportscars and world-class drivers venture to Australia – and hopes the mount could lead to more overseas racing.
"This will be the first time this series has raced in Australia and it will be great to compete in a major international event on home soil," Lowndes, three-times V8 Championship winner, said.
"These cars are basically Formula 1 machines with a body and I really hope this race in Adelaide will be a step in the right direction for me to do some more sportscar racing.”
"If Mark and I can do a good job in Adelaide, hopefully this could lead to bigger things," he said.
The Adelaide street circuit has been a happy hunting ground for Lowndes in the past, highlighted by his remarkable last-to-first victory in the Adelaide 500 last year.
"I really enjoy the Adelaide track and it will be great to be back on the full Grand Prix circuit," Lowndes said.
"Adelaide has an atmosphere that you can not match anywhere else in the world. The parties and restaurants are all located just outside the track and being on New Year's Eve, I think it will be an amazing show," he said.
The Panoz operation – headed by Le Mans Series founder, Don Panoz – is the front-runner in the American Le Mans Series, and gives Lowndes the chance to compete for race honours against an international grid of talented, experienced racers.
"The Panoz have the speed and the reliability and I now have a pretty rare opportunity to race for one of the best teams in the world," Lowndes said.
"These Le Mans cars are a lot different to a V8 Supercar. They are a lot more precise than a touring car and I am sure I will be on a steep learning curve,” he said.
Lowndes also hinted at returning overseas (he competed in the European Formula 3000 Championship in 1997), possibly in a Le Mans car.
"I would still love to race overseas and the Le Mans Series is very attractive to me because I really enjoy longer races," Lowndes said.
"With these cars there are some big events which go 24 hours, 12 hours, 10 hours and 6 hours – it would be great to do some more of these races."
"This is a fantastic opportunity for me and it is certainly the biggest race I have ever been involved with," he said.
Don Panoz hopes the addition of Lowndes and Noske to his squad will increase support for the team, and the series.
"Having the final race in Australia, I thought it was a good idea to give David Brabham some home-town back-up," Panoz joked.
"Craig obviously has a great record in V8 Supercars and has a strong background in open wheel cars which makes him well suited to sportscar racing.”
"It didn't take me long to work out who to put in our third car after I attended the Clipsal 500 earlier this year,” he said.
Former Formula 1 driver Jan Magnussen will partner Brabham in the lead car, as he has done throughout this year’s series. Johnny O’Connell and Hiroki Katoh share the other Panoz machine.
The day/night race – being build as the “Race of a Thousand Years” – will star Audis, BMWs, Cadillacs, Dodge Vipers, Corvettes and Porsches.
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