Lowndes reveals Brock's final words before his Ford switch

Twenty years after the death of Peter Brock, seven-time Bathurst 1000 winner Craig Lowndes has spoken candidly about the man who shaped him — both behind the wheel and away from it.

Joining Gary Hardgrave on 4BC Mornings, Lowndes reflected on growing up in the shadow of "The King of the Mountain" and the off-track values Brock quietly instilled in a young driver still finding his feet in Australian motorsport.

"It wasn't just about the driving," Lowndes said. "Peter had a way of looking at things that stayed with you. He always found the positive — a half-glass-full kind of mentality, even when things went wrong on track."

That outlook, Lowndes explained, became something he leaned on throughout his own career, particularly when handling the inevitable mistakes that come with racing at the highest level. Brock taught him to absorb a setback, assess it honestly, and move forward without dwelling.

One of the defining moments of Lowndes' early career came in 1994, when Brock guided him around the notorious Mount Panorama circuit for the first time. The steep, unforgiving layout of Bathurst has ended careers and reputations alike, yet Lowndes said having Brock's guidance made the experience feel less daunting.

But perhaps no chapter of their relationship carried more weight than Lowndes' decision to cross what many considered an uncrossable line in Australian motorsport — leaving Holden for Ford. In a sport where brand loyalty can define a driver's identity, the move was seen as controversial. Before the switch, Lowndes sought out Brock.

"Peter gave me his thoughts, and they were generous," Lowndes recalled. "He understood it was a career decision, not a betrayal. That conversation meant a lot."

What followed was tragedy. Peter Brock was killed in a rally crash in Western Australia in September 2006, just weeks before that year's Bathurst 1000. The grief across Australian motorsport was immense, but Lowndes arrived at Mount Panorama carrying it differently to most — he had lost not just a legend, but a personal mentor.

The race became something far more than a competition. Lowndes drove Brock's 1972 Torana ahead of the event as a tribute, the weight of that moment still vivid in the retelling. When he crossed the finish line to claim victory at the 2006 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, the emotion was barely contained.

"You're trying to keep everything together because you still have a job to do," he said. "But inside, you're running on something else entirely."

The win itself came down to the finest of margins — a 0.05-second final lap battle against Rick Kelly that pushed both drivers to their absolute limit. The result, in those circumstances, carried a resonance that went well beyond the points tally.

Two decades on, Lowndes says Brock's influence has never really left him. The values, the conversations, the guidance at Bathurst in 1994 — they remain part of how he approaches both racing and life. For a generation of Australian motorsport fans, that legacy lives on not just in record books, but in the drivers Brock helped shape.