That's especially the case when Lowndes get to support a great cause in the process.

Lowndes and his co-drivers Scotty Taylor, Geoff Emery and Alex Davison will be driving to support the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia in their Porsche 991 GT3 Cup Gen II.

"Everything we raise over the course of the next couple of days is going towards charity. [Prostate cancer awareness] is something hugely important for me because it's in my family," Lowndes said.

"There are two members of my family that have been through the prostate side of it. I'm five times more likely to get it at some point in my life so getting regular checks is important ... and it's as easy as getting a blood test."

Lowndes finished ninth overall in the 2020 edition of the Bathurst 12 Hour as part of the Earl Bamber Motorsport garage.

He's keen to go around in a Porsche once again, pursuing a class win in the invitational class.

"It's great to be back. I think any time you get an opportunity to come back to Bathurst and be part of an event here, especially driving race cars around a track that we all probably classify as top three in the world, is indicated by a lot of European drivers who come across to take part in it," he said.

"This 12 Hour race is one that you love to be a part of because of it's long duration. You start in the dark, you finish in the dark and the array of different cars that we get to race against is quite amazing."

While this year's field is smaller compared to previous editions, with COVID having an impact, the field is still of elite quality.

Lowndes said the variety in machinery is another big selling point for the event.

"All these cars are great to race 12 hours in, and a lot of them do 24 hour events, so the reliability and consistency in these cars is fantastic," he said.

"The car behind me, the cup car, is not an outright winner but it's a class winner. There's four drivers in this car this weekend, so for Scotty Taylor, Geoff Emery and Alex Davison - who has won in a cup car before - we're really excited to get here and just compete."

Lowndes was one of the drivers in attendance in Thursday's annual Track to Town event, where all competing cars made their way from Mount Panorama to the Bathurst Court House.

Poor weather threatened to get in the way for drivers and fans but the public still came out in force to get a close look at the cars and grab signatures.

Lowndes said it was great to see plenty of fans lining the streets during a time of year where motorsport isn't usually the focus for the city.

"Even with the rain today the town comes alive for this," he said.

"In October for the Supercars it's the same buzz. We don't normally come to Bathurst at this time of year. Normally we're here in February or October so it's nice to come down in the middle of the season."

The first practice session for the Bathurst 12 Hour will take place from 10.05am on Friday, with another to follow at 10.45am.

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