Lowndes prepares for final start with Triple Eight

With Triple Eight Race Engineering moving to Ford in 2026, and Craig Lowndes choosing to remain with GM, it means this October’s Repco Bathurst 1000 will be Lowndes’s final hitout with the team he joined 21 years ago.

A seven-time Bathurst winner (six of which were achieved with Triple Eight), Lowndes will share this year’s Triple Eight wildcard entry with Zach Bates. The reigning Super2 Champion will drive the #888 Chevrolet Camaro solo at the Ipswich Super 440 before partnering 51-year-old Lowndes at The Bend and Bathurst.

Of Triple Eight’s four previous Bathurst wildcards, Lowndes has been behind the wheel for three of them. The first, in 2021, saw Russell Ingall come out of retirement to partner Broc Feeney. As a wildcard, Lowndes’s results have been eighth in 2022 (with Declan Fraser), 24th in 2023 (with Zane Goddard) and 14th in 2024 (with Cooper Murray).

“The benefit this year is that Zach has a Super2 Championship under his belt," said Lowndes. “He comes with another twelve months of experience on that side of it.

“I also think he understands the program, because he sees what's been going on over the last couple of years. And I'm really excited about using this as a platform for him to go further in his career, like [other wildcard] drivers have in the past.”

In July, the livery for Lowndes’s final drive with Triple Eight was revealed, which like all previous wildcard entries, carries extensive Supercheap Auto branding. The team also welcomes support from Bendix, Bosch, Century Batteries, LOST, Sony, Sperling, ToolPRO, and Turtle Wax.

“We’re excited for the fifth year of the wildcard campaign,” said Jamie Whincup, Managing Director at Triple Eight. “We’re really proud of what we’ve been able to achieve with the Supercheap Auto wildcard program to date.

“We’ve continued the trend of having an established driver with an up-and-coming rookie. I recognised that Zach was one of those up and comers and pushed hard for him to be in the car, paired with Craig Lowndes, who we know always rises to the occasion. So, there’s no excuses – we’ll give it absolutely everything it deserves.”