🏁 EXCLUSIVE CHAT: Craig Lowndes

Craig Lowndes joins Jonesy & Amanda ahead of the 2025 Bathurst 1000.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Jersey and Amanda jam Nation.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
Well, it's trying to read of the engines. This weekend,
the Baptist one thousand makes its return. It's a big
one for champion Craiglounds after twenty one years. He's taking
his final lap with his current team Race Engineering, but
far from the end for him. Next year he's moving
to Team eighteen, continuing to race in the Super Cheap
Auto wild Card and he joins us now.

Speaker 3 (00:23):
Craig, Hello, good morning, how are you going great?

Speaker 1 (00:27):
This is like a yearly chat with us.

Speaker 4 (00:29):
I think I've spoken to you from when you first
debuted all those years ago, when you went from Holden
to Ford and now this. It feels like we've had
this like highland or existence in our relationship over these years.

Speaker 3 (00:42):
Look, it has been I think the interesting thing is
is I've been around for such a long time. So yeah, look,
it's been a great journey. It's something that's as you mentioned,
like at the end of a chapter for me in
the sense of Triple eight I've been with him now
for two decades, and even in that I've gone from
Ford to back to Holden. So it's been a great journey,

(01:02):
as I said, and you know, this weekend, the last
time I actually get to drive a triple A car,
which is a little bit sad in one regards, but
hopefully we can finish that chapter off with a great result.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
You've done this ray so often, but are the nerves
the same every year?

Speaker 3 (01:15):
Oh? Absolutely? I think if you don't get those butterflies
where you don't get those nerves at the beginning, or
even even today, like yesterday it was wet, today is
much nicer and we got to you know, build up.
That's the whole thing is when we get through these
practice sessions and then got into qualifying and then of
course you get to Sunday the actual start of the race,
and the nerves will be there. If you didn't have them,

(01:38):
I think you need to retire like Mark Scaife did.

Speaker 1 (01:41):
Yeah, what's your favorite part of the track?

Speaker 3 (01:43):
Every part of this track. I did a track walk
earlier in the week and again, doesn't matter how many
times you come here, you still walk around it. You're
still amazed by how the altitude, like the uphill side
of it coming out of turn two, and then you
go across the top of the mountain, the skyline from
skyline down to forest Elbow, there's just the elevation change

(02:04):
is like huge, and you know, it's just an incredible circuit.

Speaker 4 (02:08):
And you appreciate how steep the dipper is when you
go when you walk through it, you go to get
this big steep.

Speaker 3 (02:14):
Oh absolutely yeah. And it's one of those things that
when you go around that right hand before the dipper,
you actually got to turn it in early because you
got to remember them. When you actually turn it in,
you actually then sort of fall across to the right
when you drop down through the dipper. And so all
those little things you've got to remember every time you
do a lap around here. But it is, I said,

(02:34):
every little part of it. Once you get to Forest Elbow,
you can actually take the breadth because you've done all
the hard part across the top. There is no room
for error. If you make a mistake across the top,
you make friends with a concrete wall. So when you
every time you get to Forest Elbow, it's like a
all right, I've done that lap less than another.

Speaker 1 (02:50):
So that's what happened with Dick Johnson.

Speaker 4 (02:51):
Remember that time you had that massive crash at Forest Elbow.

Speaker 3 (02:55):
Yeah, he did. He sort of come out of it
clipped the right hand concrete wall. It broke the suspense
and it put him down into the trees. And that's
famous like that. That's one of those iconic moments where
you talk about and you look back on, and there's
been a lot of them over the years that we've
been here, and for me to even I was growing
up watching it, wanting to be part of this event,
even watching that, so it does. It's got its own

(03:17):
stories every year.

Speaker 2 (03:19):
Speaking of stories, Craig, this weekend, you're racing with young
gun Zach Bates. His mother, Ali Droa was a friend
and colleague, just passed away last week. He's doing a
beautiful tribute for her.

Speaker 3 (03:31):
When we were at the Bend three four weeks ago,
we knew that she was ill and you could see
it on his face and Ricky's dad and his husband
was with him at the Bend. But obviously, yeah, as
you said, passing his mom. He's got a beautiful sticker
on the car and a tribute to her people. If

(03:53):
you haven't seen it, it's a photo of Zach in
the middle of his mum and dad and yeah, look
it's going to be like this is one of the
probably the toughest years for me. As being I suppose
a mentor to the young guys coming through with this program,
because he come here with obviously a heavy heart. But
as I said to him, we've spoken a lot, and
as we get through these next couple of days, I'll
keep talking to him. But she's here in spirit with him,

(04:15):
and he's determined, you know, he wants to make sure
he sends I suppose what he was hoping she would
see off in a positive way and a great result.

Speaker 2 (04:25):
There's a lot to cheer for with you guys this weekend.

Speaker 1 (04:27):
And as I said, mate, you're doing it for Ali.
She was such a good friend of ours, and so
I've got a bit emotional. Yeah, and he'd be. But Craig,
good luck, good luck on the track.

Speaker 3 (04:37):
Okay, Yeah, thank you very much. I'm looking forward to
I think that we always say that the mountain chooses,
and hopefully it chooses us this year.

Speaker 2 (04:44):
All right, Craig, thank you so much. We appreciate your time.

Speaker 3 (04:47):
No thanks, guys, thank you,