Three-time V8 Supercars champ Craig Lowndes bids for Sydney double to end 14-year drought Craig Lowndes after winning the race at Phillip Island last weekend. REMIND Craig Lowndes of those 17 years since his first V8 Supercars title and he gets straight to the point. "And 14 years since my last," he says with a laugh. So to win the championship this year, here in Sydney ... it would certainly be the sweetest of all four. Lowndes is chasing Red Bull teammate Jamie Whincup, himself a five-time champion. If Lowndes wins both of the Sydney 500 races - the V8 Supercars grand final next Saturday and Sunday - he will take the title by four points. FPR's Mark Winterbottom and Will Davison, who needs a Steve Bradbury miracle of the big three falling over, are the only drivers who can spoil the Red Bull party. It makes this weekend's racing a knock em down, drag em out battle on a track designed for carnage. The most popular driver will be Lowndes, whose three successes came in 1996, '98 and 99. Undoubtedly the most recognised face on the Australian motorsport circuit, it may surprise the casual V8 fan to know that the last time Lowndes was actually rated No.1 was 14 years ago. Way back when John Howard was PM, when Dick Johnson was still racing and - incredibly - Britney Spears was making headlines through music. But after winning the V8 championship in his rookie season, and then going on a tear that would eventually see him triumph three times in his first four years, we are wondering if the current drought is starting to irritate him. " (Laughing) Oh, it obviously . . . well, we have been close a few times, which is frustrating," Lowndes concedes. In 2006, we were in a fantastic position and the last two years it's been second place to Jamie Whincup. All up I've finished in the top three or four for the past seven years so, just like this year, we've certainly been in it. And while I don't look at the championship itself any differently now, I certainly appreciate the wins a lot more. The older you get the more you appreciate exactly how much is required for success in this sport. Should Lowndes win this year's championship, he will join an esteemed list of Quartet Kings, including Bob Jane, Allan Moffat, Jim Richards and Red Bull stablemate Jamie Whincup. Not bad going for a driver who won his first title back when it was known as the Australian Touring Car Championship. "Back then, I really had no idea what I'd achieved," he says. I mean, yes, I was young and full of confidence. But that was one of those remarkable years where everything you do just falls into place. We won Bathurst, won the 500, won the championship - it's a trifecta no one has got since, which shows I was really in the right team at the right time. And as for what a championship win would mean now, almost two decades on? "As you get older, I don't think you slow down but you certainly appreciate the sport more," he says. You understand how to deal with the lows and the losses a lot better. When you're young, a bad weekend can really get to you. But, now, you can shake it off and bounce back. It's also why, even going into Phillip Island a fortnight ago, you know the championship is too tight to think about consolidating. Or driving defensively. You know to get out there and attack.