Lowndes on his best drives

V8 Supercars star Craig Lowndes has reflected on his standout performances over the years, after having won an amazing 100 races in the category today at Hidden Valley in Darwin.

A five-time Bathurst 1000 winner, three time Champion and fan favorite, Lowndes - who has steered and won in both Holdens and Fords - has a huge catalogue of performances to choose from. So v8supercars.com.au asked - what do you consider your best drives over the years?

"I think there's probably two parts to that," Lowndes told v8supercars.com.au.

"There's been races where I've come from the back of the field - and they've been really satisfying as a driver - but then there's been race wins.

"I always talk about 2006, Bathurst, which has been my all-time victory."

Peter Brock - racing great, nine-time Bathurst 1000 winner and Lowndes' mentor - had passed away in the lead-up to the event in '06, devastating Lowndes and the V8 Supercars community.

Paired with Jamie Whincup, Lowndes fought through the emotion to take his Triple Eight Falcon to first, in a fairytale victory at the sport's toughest track. The Bathurst trophy was renamed the Peter Brock Trophy, and along with Whincup, Lowndes was the first to have his name etched on it.

"Because of the nature of the race and the emotion going in with Brock, that race stands out for me as the all-time, no doubt about that.

"But there have been other races - 1999 at Clipsal we came from the back of the grid and we managed to win the Sunday race against, not all odds, but against odds."

Last month marked 16 years since that victory, when Lowndes was just 24 years of age and racing an HRT Commodore - he described it as one of the toughest, but most satisfying, races of his career. Click here to read the full interview with Lowndes.

Next on the list was Bathurst 1994, Lowndes' debut at Mount Panorama, which saw him unexpectedly battling with John Bowe for the win after a challenging day in the HRT Commodore with Brad Jones.

"To have a great battle with Bowe towards the end of the race - we didn't come out on top but we weren't far behind. It was interesting actually, talking to Bowe not long ago about that whole end of the race and the whole scenario for him was no different to us - it's just that we yielded about half a lap early than he would've had to yield.

"If we had more fuel - it's ifs, buts and maybes - it's interesting now knowing the truth years later."

Plenty of the smaller tracks hold great memories for Lowndes - Perth, where he broke Skaife's record of 90 victories, and earned the 100th, along with some others.

"I've got memories of Eastern Creek, a short track, in '96 where we first started. No one expected me to be anywhere near the front, let alone, we won the first race and left the round as victors. It's those sort of ones that you walk away very satisfied."

During the early 2000s Lowndes earned Ford Performance Racing's first race and round win at Phillip Island, in challenging conditions.

"That was exciting because it was wet ... the race got canceled in the end because of the wet weather, we sort of were smart in strategy and were leading at the time and got victory.

"Those races were - you think back on it and it was satisfying because it was FPR's first race win, we were part of that creation, and it was nice."

And who could forget 2010 at Bathurst?

Paired up with Mark Skaife, a flashback to the HRT glory days, Lowndes broke Greg Murphy's lap record in practice.

"That was a remarkable weekend, not only to break a lap record after eight or nine years from Murph - everyone has their ifs and buts about it because we did it in practice it was different to a top 10 shootout, and that sort of stuff - and it was still nice to have been so close years before, and come back and actually lower that lap record."

On race day, Lowndes survived a triple stint to victory, with the weight of the Peter Brock trophy on his shoulders.

"To do 79 laps after Skaife had popped a rib out ... I knew something was up when I got into the car and they asked me to do a double stint, and they asked me if I could do any more stints.

"I knew something was up with Mark because he hadn't really flagged the issue prior him getting out of the car; and getting out of the car the crew knew, I didn't know how bad he was.

"Bathurst to be honest is not a physical track, it's more a mental track getting it right and positioning the car.

"To come out with a victory with it, on top of all that - I remember standing on the podium and I gave Skaife a big hug and he had this big [pained] sigh because his rib was still out. We stood up on the podium really proud and that was - they're the satisfying ones. You get put up against the odds with Mark and being able to work with the team to pull through that was definitely something special."

Today, at 40 years of age - one day before his birthday! - Lowndes has once again made history. Congratulations, Craig.