Lowndes confident for first dirt rally

The name Craig Lowndes will be familiar to many outside the desert racing scene, the four-time Bathurst 1000 winner having clocked up tens of thousands of kilometers behind the wheel of a V8 Supercar.

But how will the racing legend go behind the wheel of an entirely different V8?

Driving in the 2010 Australasian Safari, Lowndes will pilot a heavily modified Holden Colorado 4WD, powered by a tricked-up V8 engine. Built by PWR Performance Products/Holden Rally Team, there's a strong chance that Lowndes will be in contention for a podium finish, barring any major catastrophes.

His secret weapon will be co-driver Kees Weel, who is a past winner of the event and will no doubt have sage words of advice for the bloke sitting next to him in the beefed-up Holden ute. But he'll also need plenty of practice.

Lowndes revealed that he'll be testing the high performance desert racer before the event near Mildura in Victoria's north, in a column for a Queensland newspaper: "I'm off to Mildura this weekend for another test in the Holden Colorado I'm driving in the Australasian Safari with Kees Weel."

With the 2010 Australasian Safari kicking off on September 17, running for eight days across 3600km, it's a true test of vehicle and driver endurance, not to mention mental mettle. It will also be the first time Craig Lowndes has competed on anything other than bitumen, which will certainly add an extra element of excitement to the event.

"I've spoken to many people about the event and I'm really excited. The PWR V8 Colorado is a potential winner, so it's now up to me to utilise the speed and manage the terrain -- I think we'll go great."

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