Lowndes excited about sport's evolution

Red Bull star Craig Lowndes believes the new open configuration of the Gen2 V8 Supercar will bring great racing.

Announced today in Sydney, the new generation V8 Supercar will morph into the Gen2 Supercar from 2017, giving the category more relevance to manufacturers, race teams, sponsors and fans, with more freedoms around body and engine configuration.

"It's going to be exciting -some people are going to have mixed emotions about it, [but] I think that going forward it makes sense," Lowndes told v8supercars.com.au.

"It will be a very different landscape to what we currently see.

"For us as race drivers it's great to know where the future is going, what it looks like -but at the same token it's up to teams and manufacturers to build cars, get organised and obviously the engine plan is going to be the interesting one."

For the 40-year old, who debuted in the category in 1996 and has seen it transform over those years, the most important thing is the guarantee of close, competitive racing.

"People want to see good quality racing and at the end of the day, that's what it's going to provide," he said.

The New Generation cars debuted last season and opened the field up to new manufacturers - Lowndes believes the 2017 evolution will once again see another wave of exciting new developments.

"It's rejuvenated, having Volvo in there, Nissan and Mercedes," he said.

"It's exciting, and again going forward with this new evolution car... people want to see good quality racing and at the end of the day, that's what it's going to provide."

While engine and body shape will be opened up, teams will be able to keep the current new generation chassis.

"Obviously we keep the current car, the cage, and allow other manufacturers to come in - it's great.

"I think also opening it up for two doors and four door configured cars is a good thing."

He believes those who may have their reservations will quickly come around.

"Fans, there will be a couple that aren't sure about it -but in saying that, a lot of people were in that view when we went to Car of the Future, and look at what has now generated ... everyone's loving the sport."

The #888 driver has a unique perspective as his Triple Eight team transformed from Ford to Holden in 2010, and continued to be the benchmark in the field.

Click here for more information about today's announcements, including the details of the Gen2 Supercar, and the brand transformation and new logo.