Lowndes to get new backer, livery for Auckland

Bathurst winner Craig Lowndes will sport a new livery on his Commodore for next month's ITM Auckland SuperSprint.

Autobarn will be replaced by National Storage for the November 2-4 event at Pukekohe, Lowndes' penultimate weekend as a full-time Supercars driver.

The livery will be revealed by Lowndes in a Facebook Live session on the Autobarn Lowndes Racing page on Thursday October 25, at 4pm AEST.

“We’re very pleased to welcome National Storage on board as the major partner on car 888 for the Auckland SuperSprint,” Triple Eight managing director Roland Dane said.

“Since joining Triple Eight in July this year, they’ve been extremely supportive of what we do and have shown a great deal of enthusiasm for the sport.

“Alongside their support with an offsite storage facility, National Storage sponsor the two Red Bull Holden Racing Team cars and have activated a number of strong fan engagement activities this year, including several race experiences up for grabs at the Auckland, Gold Coast and Newcastle events.”

Lowndes won the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 for a seventh time on Sunday, with Steven Richards.

The trip to Auckland follows next weekend's Vodafone Gold Coast 600, with Lowndes currently fourth in the Supercars standings.

He will bow out of full-time competition after the Coates Hire Newcastle 500 on November 23-25, stepping back to co-driver duties from 2019.

National Storage is inviting fans to design their own livery concept for the event, via an online competition.

During the Facebook Live to unveil his actual Pukekohe livery, Lowndes will select his favourite submission, with the winner then receiving his racesuit from the weekend.

“We’ve really enjoyed working with the Triple Eight racing team, from both a storage perspective and via our fan engagement initiatives,” said National Storage managing director Andrew Catsoulis.

“We have a strong focus on growing the business in both Australia and particularly in New Zealand, so we jumped at the opportunity to be major partner at the upcoming Auckland SuperSprint.

"The new livery and racing suit look fantastic and we think it’s going to make a huge splash on the circuit.”