LOWNDES TURNS BLUE
Three times Supercar V8 champion Craig Lowndes was presented with a 2007 model Yamaha WR450F at the recent Queensland Stadium Motocross Series finale.Yamaha Queensland Junior Development team rider Shaun Redhead rode the WR450F out to Lowndes in front of a packed 17,000 seat Ecka Stadium in Brisbane, where the V8 ace was presented with the ultimate enduro weapon.
Lowndes is a big fan of trail bike riding and of Yamaha in particular, and plans to incorporate trail riding in his training regime:
My wife Natalie and I enjoy trail riding most weekends when Im not away racing the Team Vodafone Ford Falcon V8 Supercar, explains Lowndes.
My team mates have raved about the performance and reliability of the WR450F for along time. I really looking forward to hitting the trails around home to find out for myself. My intention is to incorporate regular rides on the WR as part of my training program. All the magazine tests say that the new WR450F is without a doubt the best trail bike available, he adds.
Lowndes is one of the favourites to win the 2007 V8 Supercar series in his Triple Eight Race Engineering Ford Falocn BF.
The Victorian started out racing go-karts more than twenty years ago, but quickly showed the potential to rise to the ranks of Formula Ford, where he took out the national title in 1993.
Hungry for a greater challenge, Lowndes progressed to Formula Holden in 1994, winning the Silver Star class and gaining the attention of prominent V8 Supercar team, Holden Racing Team (HRT).
Lowndes was offered a test with the front-running operation and the opportunity saw him quickly establish a clean, quick style behind the wheel of a V8 Supercar.
A star in the making, Lowndes took second place at his debut performance in the Bathurst 1000 endurance event in 1994, following which he joined HRT full time in 1996 and became the nations youngest ever touring car champion.
22yearold Lowndes enjoyed a brilliant debut season by becoming the second driver ever to win Sandown and Bathurst in the same year, giving him victory in the most sought after events of Australian motorsport.
Lowndes secured a second Championship in 1998 and backed it up with another series victory in 1999. He is the reigning Bathurst Champion and eager to claim his fourth overall 2007 V8 Supercar Series title.
