Lowndes certain he’s still a force

CRAIG Lowndes has declared he is not “too old” to be a Supercars force, revealing if the thought his career was on the slide he’d “have walked away”.

Out to defy is critics by breaking through to win his first race of the season at this week’s Townsville Super Sprint, Lowndes said he would have quit as a full-time driver and taken up a lucrative deal to race endurance events if he thought he could not win another championship.

The 43-year-old recently signed a new deal with Triple Eight Race Engineering for at least another two years.

“I would have walked away,’’ Lowndes, a winner of 105 races, said.

“I had a frank conversation with the boss about what I could do and we both thought I wasn’t staying around too long. I am not going to work my way backwards through the field and the goal is to finish my main-game career on a high.

“I think I can win races and if that wasn’t the case then I wouldn’t be here.’’

Heading to Townsville following a poor season start, Lowndes admitted he won’t win this year’s title. But the three-time series champion is targeting a top-three finish.

“It is a long shot but that is the goal. We just haven’t had the consistency so far,” he said.