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Bowe reunites with 'terrific' CAT Falcon Supercar

Supercars
24 Sep
"It's genuinely the same. It's got the same wheels, it's got the same air ducting, got the same anti-roll bar adjusters. It's straight out of 2001"
2 mins by James Pavey
  • John Bowe reunites with famous CAT Falcon

  • Supercars legend steers 2001 AU Ford in Sydney

  • Bowe to contests Heritage Revival event in Bathurst

John Bowe has reunited with one of his iconic Supercars, with the Hall of Famer getting behind the wheel of his 2001 CAT Racing Ford AU Falcon.

The Supercars legend steered the Briggs Motorsport-built AU Falcon in a brief run at Sydney Motorsport Park across the weekend.

Bowe, a two-time Great Race winner, starred in the car at the 2001 Bathurst 1000 alongside rising star co-driver Simon Wills.

After qualifying fifth and starting seventh, Bowe set a new lap record in the opening stint of the race. However, it wasn’t to be, Bowe and Wills failing to finish as weather reared its head.

Bathurst 2001 would also prove to be the final start in CAT colours for Bowe, who moved to Brad Jones Racing in 2002, before retiring from Supercars at the end of 2007.

bowe cat ford 2 IMG 0012

Some 23 years after the race, Bowe reacquainted himself with the car, which will soon be offered for sale by its current owner.

"It's terrific. It was a really good car, and it was nice to be reunited with it," Bowe told Supercars.com.

"It's part of my history. I didn't know whether I should drive it or not, but I did, and I really liked it. With a day's testing, you could make it into a good car!

"Everything was the same. It's genuinely the same. It's got the same wheels, it's got the same air ducting, got the same anti -oll bar adjusters. It's straight out of 2001."

Bowe, who stepped back from full-time Touring Car Masters competition this year, will return to the Mountain next month aboard an ex-Allan Grice Group C Commodore in the Heritage Revival support races.

The 31-time Supercars race winner is also racing a Randall Racing BMW M4 in the new GT4 Australia Series, and will race in Sydney this weekend in the Mazda RX8 Cup.

"[Car owner] Ed Singleton's one of the major driving forces behind Heritage Touring Cars. He asked me if I would I like to have a drive," Bowe said.

"There's two reasons I said yes, firstly, I'm a racing addict, as anyone that knows me will attest to.

"And secondly, I've got a lot of time for Allan Grice, he helped me in my early touring car days. He's a good bloke, I really like him, I like his sense of humour."

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