Craig Lowndes believes the mentality of the sport has changed since he started driving touring cars in the mid-1990s.
Now with the most wins in series history, and having moved to second in the Championship, the Red Bull Racing Australia driver spoke of the young guns in the series and the talent he has seen come through the V8 Supercar ranks.
How does he feel when he sees young guys like Scott McLaughlin win his first race, and Chaz Mostert debut with a top 10 finish?
“It makes me feel old!” Lowndes laughed.
Looking back on his first race win for V8Supercars.com.au, the 38-year old said he was fortunate to have had the chance to drive for a factory outfit so early in his career.
“It was great – I was lucky enough in a sense that HRT (Holden Racing Team) gave me an opportunity to drive,” Lowndes said.
“And I know – even for back then – the sponsors weren’t too pleased about that. The team was giving this young kid the opportunity to race a $500,000 car – but it paid off. It paid dividends.
“I think the category’s mentality has changed a little bit now – I think all teams have been able to give young people like Chaz an opportunity to showcase what they do and how they do it.
“There’s some great talent here, and I think the stepping stones through Formula Ford and even the Development Series to our series is a great progression that allows these guys to develop and understand.”
Lowndes believes McLaughlin – who has been compared to the three-time Champion after his first win – is the real deal.
“I think Scotty McLaughlin – and Chaz now – but Scotty really is the showing factor of that, coming out of the Development Series as someone who has won and now stepped into our series.
“We’ve seen past Champions come into our series and struggle – so now Scotty has stepped up again and it’s showed it works and that the Development series has given him sound grounding and understanding.
“He’s a talented kid, so there’s no just putting that aside.
“It’s been fantastic seeing the next generation come through.”
When McLaughlin won his first Championship race with Fujitsu Racing GRM in New Zealand, he became the seventh driver to record his first ever win with Garry Rogers Motorsport.
While, as Lowndes said, some teams may have been hesitant to take on young, unknown drivers, team owner Rogers has always given young guns – including Garth Tander and Jamie Whincup – the opportunity to make a name for themselves in V8 Supercars.
“I look at the drivers pretty much the same as everyone we employ,” Rogers said.
“I think you’ve got to have people who are committed to what you have to do. Sure the driver has to be able to drive, but there are lots of people who can drive.
“You’ve got to make sure you pick guys who can drive really well but also make sure they’ve got the other attributes that suit our team.”
With a background as a horse broker, Rogers said he adopted the philosophies he learned in those days and applied them to motor racing.
“For me, they (young drivers) will have a few accidents – but experienced drivers have accidents too.
“And you’ve just got to make sure of the encouragement you give them. They have to be accountable for their actions, as we all do…
“You need a great driver but you need a great team as well. A great team will make a great driver, but a great driver will never make a great team.”
