“THE old rat pack back together again.”
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That’s how Craig Lowndes joked about uniting with Jamie Whincup and Shane van Gisbergen for what will be a very serious tilt at Bathurst 12 Hour glory next year.
It was revealed on Friday that the three Triple Eight Race Engineering Supercars stars will share the wheel of a Mercedes-AMG GT3 for the renowned enduro at Mount Panorama.
Promoters are labelling it as “one of the most legendary entries to ever grace the roads of Mount Panorama” and given the record of the trio at the track, it is easy to see why.
Between them, they boast 15 wins and 29 podiums across the Bathurst 1000 and 12 Hour and a handful of those successes came with Lowndes and Whincup sharing a seat.
Together they won three consecutive Bathurst 1000 crowns between 2006-08, while in 2017 the pair joined with Toni Vilander to take out the 12 Hour in a Ferrari 488.
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Lowndes has also previously raced with van Gisbergen at Mount Panorama. They joined forced for this year’s Bathurst 12 Hour, but their McLaren 650S failed to finish.
“It’s sort of like the old rat pack back together again, although we’ve got Shane on board,” Lowndes said.
“Looking forward to getting back up there [Mount] … I’ve driven with Jamie and drove with Shane last year [2018], so really familiar. I suppose business hasn’t been done, so obviously the three of us would like to be on that top step again.
“It’s going to be nice, obviously the three of us are very well compatible and we know the circuit very well.
“The car for me, I’ll need to get my head around it, but I’m sure that’ll come pretty quickly.”
The Mercedes which the trio will share is a joint Triple Eight and Scott Taylor Motorsport venture. Its livery is a nod to the #888 Team Vodafone entry Lowndes and Whincup shared in the past.
For Lowndes, who will step down from a full-time Supercars drive at the end of this season, it will be another opportunity to race at a circuit he has so much passion for.
He has contested 25 editions of the Great Race, the most recent of which he won, while he has driven in the 12 Hour seven times.
The difference next year is it will mark the first time all three Triple Eight drivers have united in a joint entry.
“It’s going to be nice, it’s the first race back out of retirement – it’s almost like the Johnny Farnham tour,” Lowndes joked.
“It’s something in a Supercar world you can’t do that [share with two others], but of course in GT world it is something which is a possibility.
“To have all three of us in one car is very strong. We saw the closing stages for me a couple of years when I was driving with Jamie and Shane was chasing him down, so the three of us are very, very competitive and as I said, we know the track very well.”
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For Whincup, next year’s 12 Hour will also be a reunion with Scott Taylor Motorsport. This February he joined Kenny Habul, Tristan Vautier and Raffaele Marciello in the Scott Taylor Motorsport Mercedes-AMG which placed second outright.
“To team up with Scott Taylor Motorsport again and then combine that with Triple Eight Race Engineering, then to have both my teammates in the car as well, combine that with Vodafone on board, it’s fantastic. I’m really looking forward to next year’s event,” Whincup said.
“Lowndesy and I and Team Vodafone competed at Bathurst for many years, so it’s good to get the band back together. I’m looking forward to teaming up with Lowndesy again, but both years Shane has been opposition for me, so it’s good to be in the same team for an all-out assault.”
The 2019 Bathurst 12 Hour event will run from January 31 to February 3.