Veteran driver Craig Lowndes expects this year’s V8 Supercars championship to be one of the tightest in recent memory – making his bid for a drought-breaking fourth crown all the more difficult.
All 25 cars will take to the track for the first time in 2014 at the official test day at Sydney Motorsport Park on Saturday, ahead of the season-opening Clipsal 500 in Adelaide in a fortnight.
While the field has been reduced by three, the second season under ‘Car of the Future’ regulations heralds the arrival of a fifth manufacturer in Volvo, which returns to Australian motor racing after a 15-year absence.
It joins incumbents Holden and Ford, alongside last year’s debutants Nissan and Mercedes-Benz.
“That’s why I think the championship and the year is going to be so much tighter,” Lowndes told AAP on Friday.
“Cars are going to be a lot closer, racing’s going to be a lot closer.
“Everyone’s 12 months more advanced, everyone’s got better set-ups, better knowledge.
“I think every element of a race weekend – whether it’s the qualifying, to the starts, to the races themselves – is going to be a lot more critical to get right.”
Lowndes narrowly missed out on claiming his first V8 Supercars title since 1999 to five-time champion and Red Bull teammate Jamie Whincup in a dramatic final round in Sydney last December.
It capped off an incredibly tight season in which there were 13 different winners from 36 races.
“We had a lot of variety of race winners last year and I think that’s where it’s exciting,” Lowndes said.
“Now having Volvo in it, I’m sure they’ll be pushing hard to try and get some results as well.
“We might’ve lost a couple of cars in total, I think the quality of the racing I don’t think is going to change at all.”
The 39-year-old Lowndes, buoyed by his maiden Bathurst 12-Hour win last weekend, hopes to turn the tables around this year and leave Whincup in his wake.
But, he admits, it’s not going to be easy given his poor form during qualifying last season.
“We always race really well, it’s just that we always come from too far back,” he said.
“That’s really our biggest problem … so hopefully we can step that up.”