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Sandown S5000 winner to be awarded John Bowe trophy
The winner of the third round of the 2021 VHT S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship will lift the John Bowe trophy at Sandown this weekend.
The 1984-1985 Australian Drivers’ Champion was an open-wheel star before making his career in Australian Touring Car Racing.
He won 14 Australian Drivers’ Championship races from his debut in the late 1970s, including several years with the famous Team Ansett Elfin team that included a runner-up finish in the 1979 Australian Grand Prix.
Bowe’s F5000 career included a pair of narrow runner-up finishes in the Gold Star before he won it twice in the Australian Formula 2 era, driving a Ralt RT4. He has been a vocal supporter of the S5000 category since its genesis.
The inauguration of the John Bowe trophy continues the new tradition of the VHT S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship in recognising the long history of Australia’s premier open-wheel award.
Round 1 winner Tom Randle won and was presented with the John McCormack Trophy by the three-time champion in Tasmania, while Round 2 winner Joey Mawson was last weekend presented the Alfie Costanzo Trophy by the four-time Gold Star champion.
John Bowe will be on hand to present to hand the John Bowe Trophy to the winner of S5000’s feature on Sunday afternoon.
S5000 will contest three races this weekend at Sandown alongside the Penrite Oils SuperSprint event.
Practice, qualifying and all three races will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 506.
John Bowe – two-time Australian Drivers Champion
“Back then, I went from racing a Formula 3 with 130hp, to an F5000 with way over 500hp. Put it this way, it got my attention!” Bowe said.
“I think S5000 is the epitome of what F5000 would have evolved into had it continued.
“The ground shakes, and you just know they are serious race cars. It’s the best thing to happen for open-wheeler racing in over 30 years.
“I’m honoured to put my name to the trophy at Sandown. Driving those big powerful cars was one of the most exciting and challenging times in my career, and so it’s good to see Australia’s young up-and-coming drivers looking towards that same challenge, and a potential career, in S5000.”
Chris Lambden – S5000 Category Development Manager
“Right now, we couldn’t think of anyone more appropriate to have their name on an S5000 trophy,” says S5000 Development Manager Chris Lambden.
“Apart from the obvious on-track background – which is still going on! – JB’s current public confrontation with prostate cancer, and his use of that to send a message to men about it, makes it doubly appropriate.
“JB is an ongoing Legend of Australian motorsport, so whoever ends up with this trophy on their cabinet will have a very worthwhile piece of memorabilia!”