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John Bowe (born 16 April 1954 in Devonport, Tasmania) is an Australian racing driver, presently racing a 1969 Ford Mustang in the historic series, Touring Car Masters. Bowe is a multiple Australian Champion, having twice won the Australian Drivers' Championship during the Formula Mondial era and the Australian Sports Car Championship, before winning the Australian Touring Car Championship in 1995. He has also won the prestigious Bathurst 1000 touring car endurance race twice, in 1989 and 1994. Both times as co-driver with longtime friend and teammate Dick Johnson driving for iconic Ford team Dick Johnson Racing. ==Racing Cars== Bowe began racing at the age of sixteen in Formula Vee Elfin 500 in 1971, winning the Tasmanian state title on debut.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=John Bowe - Australian Motorsport Champion )〕 The following year, he also won the Tasmanian Formula Ford title.〔()〕 After graduating from domestic Formula Ford racing Bowe moved into the Australian Drivers Championship in the late 1970s, racing Elfin Formula 5000s for the most prestigious team of the era, the factory Ansett Team Elfin run by Elfin Sports Cars founder and chief designer Garrie Cooper. The pinnacle of his Formula 5000 career was finishing runner up in the 1979 Australian Grand Prix driving one of Cooper's Chevrolet V8 powered Elfin MR8s. In the same year he also came second in the Australian Formula 2 Championship. Bowe would finish third in the 1980 Australian Drivers' Championship driving the MR8, and would finish fourth in the Formula 2 title. He would finish fourth in 1981 driving the Elfin MR9, the only Ground effects F5000 ever built. He also dropped to ninth place in the Formula 2 championship driving an Elfin Two-25 Volkswagen. After playing second fiddle to Alfredo Costanzo for several seasons, Bowe broke through for his first Australian Drivers' Championship in 1984, backing it up the following year with his second title in his Ford powered Ralt RT4 for Chris Leach. The 1984 and 1985 championships were run under Formula Mondial regulations. Bowe qualified on the front row for the 1984 Australian Grand Prix at Calder Park in Melbourne and led the race for the first 18 laps before a loose spark plug lead caused the 4 cyl Ford engine to misfire and he was passed by defending race winner Roberto Moreno of Brazil who went on to win the race. Bowe finally stopped on lap 33 and rejoined in 13th place. He would fight his way back to 6th place by the end of the race (2 laps down), setting the 3rd fastest race lap behind Moreno's Ralt and the similar car of Formula One driver Andrea de Cesaris. Bowe's last open wheeler race was in the Formula Mondial support race at the 1986 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide. Driving a Ralt RT4 in the race (for the first time in 12 months), Bowe equalled the category lap record for the Adelaide Street Circuit set one year earlier by American driver Ross Cheever, the younger brother of Formula One driver Eddie Cheever. Bowe's time of 1:33.20 for the 3.780 km (2.362 mi) track compared to the fastest Formula One race lap of the circuit that year of 1:20.78 set by Nelson Piquet driving a turbocharged Williams-Honda. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「John Bowe (racing driver)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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