Craig Lowndes expands ZF role
Australian motorsport legend Craig Lowndes is set to continue his long-standing relationship with ZF into a second decade, with confirmation that the seven-time Bathurst 1000 winner has signed on to represent the company across all market segments.
Since 2013, Lowndes has been a representative of ZF’s SACHS brand as a technical and product expert, after extensively relying upon a range of SACHS-engineered shock absorbers and clutches in his storied competition career.
That emphasis on the passenger vehicle market will now switch to an all-encompassing partnership, which will see Lowndes move into a ZF technical and product expert role that also focusses on the company’s diverse offerings in areas such as commercial vehicles, marine products, and rail.
This will provide ZF with another platform to showcase its technologies and products as the world transitions towards e-mobility solutions.
“For me, it is great to be continuing to represent ZF and its various brands in an expanded role as the ZF Technical and Product Expert,” said Lowndes.
“Over the years, it has been fantastic to work so closely with the ZF team, the distributors of their products and end customers.
“It’s been great to see the company grow in this time, and how they have stayed ahead of the curve with some incredible technology advancements.
“The wide array of products in different fields that ZF produce is really impressive, and I can’t wait to continue to tell the story of how these innovations are shaping the future.”
For ZF, the decision to extend the long-standing partnership was simple.
“Throughout the past decade, Craig has become a part of the family here at ZF, and we are proud to continue our relationship,” said Mark Lowe, Managing Director at ZF Group Oceania.
“Craig brings an incredible level of authenticity and credibility to the role – he has an impressive understanding of how complex automotive systems work, thanks to his early life as a motor mechanic and more recently through the engineering expertise he earned in his racing career.
“With his continued involvement in motorsport and on TV, his influence across a broad cross-section of the community continues to place him as a fan favourite and a household name.
“We can credit much of the success of the growth of the SACHS brand in the marketplace to Craig’s campaigns, and while he will continue to be the face of SACHS, we look forward to him taking on board a wider brief across the entire ZF business.
“By leading the ZF technical expert campaign, Craig has the knowledge and skillset to add real substance to the program, plus the ability to amplify it to a much larger audience of workshops around the country.”
Outside of SACHS, ZF’s local line-up of products includes offerings from Lemförder, TRW and WABCO, plus an extensive array of ZF-branded components and services.
Lowndes’ on-track credentials place him at the top tier of the sport, with the recent Bathurst 1000 event seeing him make his record-breaking 300th Supercars event start.
Outside of his Bathurst success, he claimed three Supercars titles in 1996, ’98 and ’99, along the journey registering over 100 championship race wins.
Lowndes has twice won the Bathurst 12 Hour aboard Ferraris in 2014 and ’17 and has raced extensively abroad.
Off track, he is the recipient of an Order of Australia Medal, he won the Barry Sheen Medal five times, and the Peter Brock Medal in 2013, while also being voted the fan’s choice as Supercars’ most popular driver four times.
