ON the long, boring drive over the Blue Mountains back to Sydney I was reflecting on what it must have been like to experience the period of domination on Mount Panorama by Peter Brock in the 1970s and 80s.
To that point in Australia’s brief motorsport history there had really been nothing like it; seven of his nine victories came in ten brief years where few others got a look in.
It was only when looking at Craig Lowndes’ achievements that you begin to realise that we are close to experiencing the same thing in this ultra-competitive, modern era.
Lowndes’ seventh win in the Great Race on Sunday was more than just a remarkable story, what with it coming in his swansong year as a full-time Supercars driver.
As if six wins wasn’t enough, it firmly entrenched him as one of the greatest ever at Mount Panorama in an era more competitive than anything we have ever witnessed in the sport.
His strike rate there is truly startling and almost mirrors what his hero and mentor achieved during his peak period in the 70s and 80s with the Holden Dealer Team.
He’s won six of the last 13 Great Races, finishing second or third in three others during that period.
When you consider what the race has thrown at us in that period – the drama, the weather, the unpredictability and the competition – it’s a remarkable strike rate.
What’s more the way in which he has achieved those wins adds to the storyline.
The 2006 victory and all the emotion attached was one thing. The near 80-lap stint after Mark Skaife injured his back in 2010 was the stuff of legend. The arm-wrestle with Mark Winterbottom at the end of 2015 continued a string of Bathurst thrillers while this year’s had the added storyline of forthcoming retirement and rebounding from a year of adversity in 2017.
As always with legends, the near-misses enhance the tale. Some say Lowndes’ charge at the end of the 2011 race marked one of his finest ever drives, the Triple Eight Commodore scything more than 10-seconds out of leader Garth Tander in the closing stages to finish locked to the tail of the HRT Commodore.
Then there was the following year, where a podium looked increasingly unlikely in his HDT-liveried Commodore as he languished in sixth place with 20 laps to go.
But at Bathurst you never dismiss Craig Lowndes: By lap 144 he was fifth. By 158 fourth and the next lap third – another podium scored but an even better story to add to the Bathurst legend of the man.
So Craig now has seven wins in the Great Race and could now easily – well, as easy as a Bathurst victory is – at least match Brock’s nine victories no matter who he drives with next year. In Jamie Whincup he would reunite with a driver he already shares three victories with. In Shane van Gisbergen he would join arguably the fastest man on the grid, a man still seeking a maiden Bathurst crown which would make them sharing a win even more special.
Either way, eight, nine or even ten wins are certainly achievable. Even if they don’t it doesn’t matter: if Brock was indeed King of the Mountain, Lowndes is now firmly the Prince of Panorama; winning in an era where it is increasingly hard to do so.
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WHILE the Craig Lowndes story is obviously the headline, the tale of Steven Richards must not be forgotten, for his Bathurst record also features amongst the all-time greats.
With five wins he stands alone on the winners list, one behind Mark Skaife and only two behind his own father, Jim, and current co-driver Lowndes.
What’s more, Richo has notched up those wins in a remarkably rapid period – five out of 21 attempts in any ‘major’ is a remarkable strike rate.
Like his illustrious father Steve is not one to chase the limelight and, at least outwardly, seems to be more than happy to let the Lowndes narrative dominate the headlines even though he deserves plenty of his own.
In almost every instance he has achieved those victories by performing the near-perfect co-driver role; Fast when required, safe and consistent at all times and unflappable to pressure or any stresses that may occur and at all times with a smile and an engaging personality that makes him a superb interviewee or representative of the sport with fans.
The circumstances around Lowndes’ retirement means he’ll be on the outside looking in at Triple Eight next year, which is a crying shame. But his strong pace this year and enormous experience would be enormously valuable to any team – especially one currently mentoring young drivers. An Erebus or Garry Rogers would do much worse than employing Richo to join one of their young guns for another Bathurst tilt next year. It will be a sad commentary on the state of our sport if he doesn’t get a drive.
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SOME other brief Bathurst takeaways.
** SPEAKING of great co-drivers, how about Warren Luff’s form? His second straight Podium with Scott Pye took his streak to five from the last seven Bathurst starts. Though a win remains elusive, Luffy, like Richo, is the ultimate professional co-driver and surely a Great Race win can not be far away.
** EREBUS’ misfortunes have been well documented, but their domination of the race – they led more than 100 laps on Sunday – is proof of the way that team has evolved. Decisions made at the end of the race perhaps showed their relative immaturity (Roland Dane would not have hesitated to pull Reynolds out at the first sign of distress) yet their speed and consistency showed their evolution. Betty’s boys and girls will learn from Sunday and it will likely make them stronger – which is not what the other teams want to see, because few were as quick as the No. 9 last Sunday.
** HOW NICE was it to see a flat-out blast under green towards the end of the race? Scott McLaughlin said his second-last stint, from 117 to his final stop, was amongst the toughest he’s ever driven – punching out low 2m06s lap after lap while fending off his own track position. As fun and exciting as Bathurst’s dramatic finishes of the last decade have been, Sunday’s blast to the end was a different kind of race, but it was thoroughly enjoyable and had it’s own inherent drama and intrigue. And, of course, a result that made it just as memorable as anything that has occurred there in the last few years.
** BATHURST continues to grow and the event remains one of the biggest in Australia. This year a vast, new campground opened at the Chase, taking to 7,500 the number of sites available to campers. Nearly 40,000 camped on the Mountain this year, doubling the population of Bathurst city for a week. On Sunday there were more than 60,000 on the hill, revelling in an atmosphere unique to that place, and that place alone.
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