When John Bowe releases the clutch on his OzEmail Falcon for the opening race in the New Zealand round of the 2004 V8 Supercar championship this weekend, it will be his 175th race start.  A momentous occasion for the gifted Tasmanian, who now climbs to fourth on all time “ATCC Most Starts” ladder.

Bowe has come a long way since forging his date of birth to get a racing licence at the age of 16.  His first race was at Hobart’s Baskerville Raceway, in what he describes as a “just a fantastic racecar” – an open wheel Formula Vee.  Since then he has managed a couple of Bathurst 1000 victories and the ATCC crown in 1995.

To put Bowe’s ageless talent into perspective, the memory only needs to recall his last event.  Being competitive in the world’s most competitive touring car championship after 19 years is one thing.  Being on provisional pole position at the last V8 Supercar outing at Eastern Creek just a fortnight ago, provides all the necessary credibility to prove this perfectionist is far from hanging up his driving boots.

There are few, if any, of the immortals of Australian motorsport that can testify to being so competitive, so capable at the same stage of their careers.

“There’s not a day that I don’t feel blessed that I’m still good enough to be competitive after 175 starts.  I’m looking forward to getting to 200 and even more,” said Bowe.

“It honestly only feels like yesterday that I sat in that Formula Vee for my first race and the scary part is that I can clearly remember each and every one of the 175 (starts) ,” Bowe added.

“I still love racing just as much as I did when I first started and I get the same butterflies and nerves as I did back then too.  The desire to succeed is still well and truly there.”

Bowe credits his re-emergence as one of the leading V8 Supercar drivers to the team at Brad Jones Racing (BJR).  Since joining the outfit at the end of 2001, he has never looked back.

“There is no doubt that joining BJR revitalised my career and me as a person.  I’ve been delighted with the way things have gone and I’ve quoted many times in saying that Brad and Kim (Jones) and whole team are the best bunch of guys I’ve ever worked with,” Bowe said.

“You’d think after 175 starts that there wouldn’t be much more I could learn but working with these guys (at BJR) , I’m being educated all the time.  We’re going to continue to grow together,” Bowe concluded.

Round 3 of the 2004 V8 Supercar Championship gets underway this weekend at New Zealand’s Pukekohe Raceway, situated 45 minutes outside of Auckland.