IT was a magic moment in 2018 when Craig Lowndes and Steve Richards won the Bathurst 1000 together, but come Monday the pair will turn rivals at Mount Panorama.
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Virtual rivals that it.
Lowndes and Richards have been confirmed as starters in the Supercars celebrity Eseries race on Monday night, meaning they will tackle the Mount in a simulator.
While Lowndes made it seven Great Race victories in 2018 and has stood on the Bathurst 1000 podium as a minor placegetter another seven times, Monday's race will bring a whole different challenge.
On Wednesday evening he got a taste of simulator racing when he made a wildcard appearance in the Supercars All Stars Eseries.
His Red Bull Racing Commodore was involved in a number of crashes across the three races at the Circuit of the Americas and Lowndes' highest finish was a 28th placing in the reverse grid format.
Still, that experience was enough to lure Lowndes back for another virtual racing event.
He is keen to test his simulator skills against some familiar foes as well as identities from other sports.
"Being part of the All Stars Eseries was an eye-opener, so looking forward to getting back to a track I know really well, which is Bathurst," Lowndes told supercars.com.
"Racing against some old names I've had some great battles with, Neil Crompton being one of them.
"He was my team-mate at one stage there, so looking forward to that.
"Mick Doohan and a few others like Toby Price, they're completely out of their comfort zone, for me this is definitely out of my comfort zone, so really looking forward to the challenge."
While Lowndes and Richards - who between them boast 12 Bathurst 1000 wins, four class wins in the Bathurst 12 Hour and a Bathurst 24 Hour success - have track knowledge on their side, the other celebrities revealed on Friday as starters do not.
Australian Supercross star Chad Reed has watched the Bathurst 1000 from Pit Lane and earlier this year said he had a desire to race in the Bathurst 12 Hour.
But Monday night will see him do his first racing - albeit virtual - laps of the 6.213 kilometre circuit.
It's the same scenario for All Blacks hooker Codie Taylor, Melbourne Demons star Jack Viney plus Australian Olympians Tom Slingsby (sailing) and Jarryd Hughes (snowboarding).
John Steffensen was the other celebrity confirmed on Friday and while he has the experience of driving in the Porsche Carrera Cup, he did not contest the Bathurst round of that series.
The Supercars celebrity race at Mount Panorama will be broadcast live at 7pm AEST on Monday on Supercars' Facebook, Twitch and YouTube pages.
