Craig Lowndes is rapidly getting up to speed with Team 18 ahead of his first non-Triple Eight starts in 22 years.
The Supercars Hall of Famer joined the Charlie Schwekolt-owned team following a two-decade run with Triple Eight Race Engineering.
Lowndes joined the team for its first wildcard test day at The Bend Motorsport Park last week, with rising star Bayley Hall getting behind the wheel.
The likes of Team Principal Adrian Burgess and engineer Richard Hollway — who have worked with Lowndes before — and Technical Director Geoff Slater were also trackside.
Super2 driver Hall logged approximately 20 laps of The Bend’s West circuit as Team 18 traced an electrical issue in the #15 Supercheap Auto Camaro.
The intermittent issues prevented Lowndes from completing his permitted 10 laps, but the seven-time Bathurst winner was still pleased to bed himself in with his new team.
While he missed out last week, Lowndes did drive a Team 18 Camaro at Sydney Motorsport Park earlier this year. Lowndes will get behind the wheel in the enduro test at Queensland Raceway on Tuesday August 25.
The Camaro was raced by Mark Winterbottom throughout 2023 and 2024, and was also used for wind tunnel testing in the recent off-season.
“It was fantastic. It was great to be back in a driver's capacity,” Lowndes told Supercars.com.
“It was the first time that the collective group has come together as a wildcard team. It was great to have some familiar faces.
“Although I didn't get any laps on Friday, it was good to be at a track, and sit with with Bayley, go through the processes, get him up to speed with what he needs, and help him get mentally prepared.”
Hall will make his Supercars debut at the Century Batteries Ipswich Super 440 on August 21-23, before combining with Lowndes at The Bend (September 11-13) and Bathurst (October 8-11).
While still fresh to the Supercars scene, Hall impressed Lowndes, who with Triple Eight, raced with the likes of Declan Fraser, Zane Goddard, Cooper Murray and Zach Bates.
“Bayley did a fantastic job. We gave him a new set of tyres at the end of the day, and he adapted really well,” Lowndes said of Hall.
"He's a sponge. He’s taking everything in, he's absorbing everything, he's asking the right questions and really taking onboard everyone's information. He's done a number of races now around different cars in different countries, in the last four or five months.
“I think he's in good shape. I'm really looking forward to seeing what he does at Queensland Raceway now.”
Lowndes has balanced his broadcast commitments at race events by being a constant in the Team 18 garage. It all points to the 110-time race winner being well and truly embedded in the Melbourne squad come The Bend.
"I've been lucky enough to spend a little bit of time this year with Team 18, on and off the track,” Lowndes said.
"Charlie and the team have done a fantastic job to make me feel warm and welcome. It's different in some regards because their philosophy and the way that they do their the business is a little different than Triple Eight.
“But a race team's a race team. Like I said, a lot of familiar faces. I'm really enjoying being in this capacity, whether it's Triple Eight or now Team 18.
"I'm really excited about it. It's a new venture, new team, and we're looking for some great results."
