By Timothy Neal
Date posted: January 11, 2023
Touring Car Masters legend John Bowe has decided to call it a day in the category, choosing to make 2023 his last full-time outing in the fan favorite series.
Whilst hey‘s certainly not retiring from racing – quite the contrary – the six-time TCM champion will embark on 2023 as a ‘Testimonial tour‘.
Bowe‘s extensive trophy cabinet – among others – features two Bathurst 1000 victories, an Australian Touring Car Championship, and three Gold-Star titles to go his six TCM titles collected over 15 seasons, with perhaps one more in the offing after finishing second to Ryan Hansford in 2022‘s battle of the Torana‘s.
Bowe‘s name is synonymous with the series, and the driver that was the first to 300 TCM starts has amassed 104 wins, 41 round victories, 70 podiums, and 53 poles. And in 14 of his 15 seasons, has finished within the top three in the standings.
“I love Touring Car Masters. It has been, and continues to be a very important part of my life, both in motorsport and beyond that,” Bowe explained.
“I have spoken before about how important it was to go back to racing following my retirement from Supercars in 2007, and it was TCM that filled that hole in my life for me. I‘ve had an incredible time, made many new friends and been able to compete with many old ones along the way.”
JB in action at the 2022 Adelaide 500 in his classic Holden Torana: Jack Martin Photography
His first TCM race saw him driving a Chevrolet Camaro SS, before switching to his iconic Ford Mustang, affectionately known as “Sally”, the first race car that Bowe actually owned in his long and storied career.
Bowe went on to take his first of his three titles in the Mustang in 2011, before going back-to-back in 2012.
The next decade was dominated by him, Jim Richards, and Steve Johnson, with Hansford‘s 2022 title making him the first driver without the surname of Bowe or Johnson to win it since 2013.
His battles with Richard‘s became the stuff of legend, as the pair of Aussie motorsport Hall of Famers took out every title between 2009-2017.
When Johnson went on his triple 2017-2019 title run, he did so with “Sally”, with the two drivers providing four years of highly entertaining racing.
Bowe then carved out another category record, becoming the first multi-brand champion when he switched to a Bendigo Retro Muscle prepared Holden SL/R 5000 in the second year of his triple championship run in 2014-2016.
His last championship then came in 2020 in the Torana, making him the first six-time title holder.
Bowe now intends to race in ‘must do‘ events, including enduro‘s, historic events abroad and at home, and category one-offs.
“This year felt like the right time to step back from the full-time campaign and have a look at some other things I want to do in motorsport,” JB continued.
“I‘ll go racing with my mate Joe (Calleja) in historic racing, do some endurance races I enjoy like the Bathurst 6 Hour and other bits and pieces.”
“I‘m not retiring…I probably won‘t ever retire. it‘s just ‘Bye for now‘ from TCM in a sense of competing in every round.
“I‘m not ruling out more racing in the category, and If someone throws me the keys to a car for a round here or there I‘d find it impossible to say no!”
Fittingly, the Davenport born stalwart will set another record come Round 1 in his home state, when he becomes the first TCM driver to notch a century of round appearances at Symmons Plains on March 10-12.
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