Bowe down to the king
JOHN Bowe was king of the Gold Coast in its earliest days of hosting touring car racing.
Twice a Bathurst winner and once a series champion, Bowe was untouchable on the Surfers Paradise streets.
Though IndyCars first hit town in 1991, the Australian Touring Car Championship – the predecessor to Supercars – arrived on the scene three years later.
Running as a support series to the international Indy show, the sprint races were nonchampionship events, meaning no points were handed out. That didn’t stop Bowe. The Dick Johnson Racing stalwart took a cleansweep of the 1994 round and then mirrored that effort in 1996, after a one-year ATCC hiatus from the Gold Coast.
Bowe’s four-race stranglehold over the venue was only broken the following season when Greg Murphy and Russell Ingall shared the honours with a victory each. The 63year-old remembers the inaugural Gold Coast event fondly.
“It was fantastic,” Bowe told the Bulletin.
“I couldn’t believe when we got there to start the weekend what a great job they had done of the circuit.
“It was really spectacular. The track was great. I had some really good battles with various people, Skaifey (Mark Skaife) and with Alan Jones.”
Nowadays as the Gold Coast 600, two 300km races are held across the weekend – one on each day.
Bowe is a big fan of bringing the endurance format to the street circuit and admits he wishes he was young enough to take part in the modern-day event. He does however consider the original layout to be better than the current shorter version.
“The old track was better for sure … but it is still a good track,” Bowe said.
Red Bull Holden Racing Team’s defending champion Shane van Gisbergen praised the 2.96km design.
“I always enjoy that race,” he said.
“To race around there, the track is so intense now, it’s been the shorter version for a while but the racing is always just so close and so tight.
“For a street circuit there is always some good passing and some good action.”
The No.97 driver came first and second in the two races last year.