Craig Lowndes Reflects on Peter Brock 20 Years After His Death

“[Brock and I] grew up in the same area in Victoria, went to the same high school, played AFL football in the same football club, so I had a very strong connection outside of this world [motor sport],” Lowndes said. “And my father built a lot of his [Brock’s] race-winning cars, so Peter was more than just a teammate.

“You miss him because you’d like to have that conversation with him before a race, or pick up the phone to get some advice like I used to be able to do ... You have a bad weekend, you’d get some advice from him and he was very positive. Like he was just one of those people that [was] very charismatic.”

This weekend, Lowndes is set to start in his 33rd Bathurst 1000, one more than Brock. Although now it is Lowndes who is the mentor to a protégé of his own, teammate Bayley Hall.

“I’ve become that sort of leader of the group in a sense,” Lowndes said. “Bailey, we did a track walk the other day and I literally recalled everything that Peter taught me, from turn one, from Hell Corner all the way to Murray’s Corner.

“His [Brock’s] legacy will live on forever. He was bigger than the sport in some regards ... He was just very much a person that could grab people’s attention, hold their attention, but also inspire them for greatness, and that’s the part that I miss 20 years on.”