THEY grew up as rivals, but now Craig Lowndes and Steve Richards are team-mates intent on winning together at Mount Panorama.
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This year will be the last time that Triple Eight Race Engineering star Lowndes will contest the Bathurst 1000 as a full-time Supercars championship driver.
Next year he will be at the Great Race in a co-driver capacity, so this Sunday will also mark the last time he and Richards will tackle the 161-lap epic together.
They are the most experienced pair on the grid when it comes to Bathurst starts and in 2015 hoisted the Peter Brock Trophy together. It is something Lowndes wants to do again in what will be their fifth consecutive tilt as a pairing at the Mount.
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“I'll be gunning for a win that’s for sure, that thought for me has not changed at all. Steve knows it,” Lowndes said.
“We are well aware this will be the last year we’ll pair up together and he’s already indicated he’d like to find somewhere else and continue to drive, which is fantastic.
“He’s obviously not in a championship position, but he knows how much it means to us and him. He’s had great success there, he knows what it’s like standing on the podium at the end of Sunday.
“We grew up in the same era, we raced against each other in juniors categories and all sorts of things. To pair up with him now for what will be our fifth year, it's quite incredible to have the longevity we’ve had, the great success.
“He and I are very similar in terms of the style we drive the car too, the way we want the car.”
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