{"id":578136,"date":"2026-04-01T08:21:33","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T08:21:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/578136\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T08:21:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T08:21:33","slug":"bowe-to-bring-up-bathurst-enduro-half-century","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/578136\/","title":{"rendered":"Bowe to bring up Bathurst enduro half-century"},"content":{"rendered":"

JOHN Bowe will celebrate his 50th Bathurst enduro this weekend in an ultra-rare milestone.<\/p>\n

Bowe is competing in the Hi-Tec Oils Bathurst 6 Hour, sharing a Ford Mustang in the A2 class with Braydan Willmington and Brianna Wilson.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the latest chapter in an affinity with the Mountain that dates back to 1985.<\/p>\n

That was the first of his 23 starts in the Bathurst 1000. He\u2019s also made 12 appearances in the 12 Hour, eight (prior to this weekend) in the 6 Hour, two in the 24 Hour, and four in the GT-P 3 Hour Showroom Showdown.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Bowe has four outright victories to show for those efforts: two in the Great Race (1989 and \u201994) and two in the 12 Hour (2010 and 2014).<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s the best track in the world but maybe I\u2019m a bit biased,\u201d Bowe told V8 Sleuth.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m quite often asked by people what I\u2019m most proud of, and I always say it\u2019s the longevity \u2013 the fact that I\u2019ve managed to stay in the game for a very long time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a tough business. It\u2019s not easy and financially it\u2019s not easy but I\u2019m still going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Besides the obvious addition of the Chase in 1987, Bowe believes Bathurst has evolved aplenty over four decades.<\/p>\n

\"\"The Volvo of John Bowe<\/a> and Robbie Francevic in 1985. Pic: an1images.com \/ Dale Rodgers<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first time I went there I was horrified by the lack of safety, like run-off,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s much safer than it used to be.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, it will never be a clinical place because it\u2019s one of the last bastions of road courses in the world. They don\u2019t make tracks like that anymore.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s incredibly satisfying to drive around if the car is not trying to kill you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bowe will be available over the 6 Hour weekend to sign copies of his new book, \u2018Driven: The John Bowe Story\u2019 at Bathurst<\/a>. Copies will be available to buy from the Bowe pit over the weekend.<\/p>\n

Eager to take a relaxed approach to his racing, the two-time Bathurst 1000 winner does enjoy the old-school nature of production cars and their need for mechanical sympathy.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"Bowe also drove the Willmington Mustang in the 2025 Bathurst 6 Hour. Pic: Speed Shots Photography<\/p>\n

\u201cI race nowadays with people whose company I really enjoy,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Willmingtons are lovely people and the chance to go around Bathurst is always appreciated.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got no expectations, I\u2019m just going to enjoy the driving and enjoy the people.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have got a lot of trophies \u2013 I don\u2019t need trophies. But if we can have a good result and you go home on Sunday night and you think \u2018gee we did a good job\u2019, I love that feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n

A total of 70 cars have been entered for the April 3-5 main event<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Get your Bathurst 6 Hour tickets here<\/a><\/p>\n

The Undercut \u2013 Breaking down the big 2026 issues!<\/p>\n

The Undercut is back for 2026, with Aaron Noonan once again joined by Jack Perkins and James Moffat, breaking down a massive start to the new motorsport season!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JOHN Bowe will celebrate his 50th Bathurst enduro this weekend in an ultra-rare milestone. Bowe is competing in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":578137,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,806,805,803,804,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-578136","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-motosport","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-motor","11":"tag-motor-sports","12":"tag-motosport","13":"tag-motosports","14":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=578136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578136\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/578137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=578136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=578136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=578136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}