JB leaving CAT (from the man himself)

[BJAY]

This was taken from www.johnbowe.com.au

Well we certainly live in interesting times, one door closes and several others open very quickly.

Briggs Motorsport and I have decided to go our separate ways but one thing I can assure you, I will definitely be staying in V8 Supercar racing.

The phone rang pretty hot over the course of the weekend with some very interesting and tempting offers.

At present there are five different options on the table for 2002 – but two of those are from Holden teams and you can bet I will certainly not be entertaining those offers – regardless of how tempting they may be.

I have been a Ford driver since 1988 and we have had some fantastic success together. I am also heavily involved in helping with the development of the Tickford road car range as well as racing the Mustang in GTP.

I am certainly not going to throw all that away to drive a Holden. Besides, there would also probably be a riot amongst the Ford fans as well.

But at the end of the day, I still really enjoy the competition of V8 Supercar r acing and still feel I can be very competitive.

If I hung up the helmet now, I would certainly be leaving the sport with a lot of unfinished business.

The first stint at Bathurst showed I can still be right on the pace.

But the real secret is you have to have a good car beneath you.

Look at Tony Longhurst and Thomas Mezera – they really haven’t been a factor throughout the 2001 championship, but, put them in a HRT car and they are very competitive.

I believe experience still plays a vital role and this will be further amplified next year if we continue to have a greater number of longer races.

I am certainly in no rush to make a decision about 2002, and one of the reasons Briggs and I have decided to part company is so we can both start planning early for next year.

I intend to have a drive of a couple of different cars in the next few weeks before finalising my plans.

I am actually pretty excited about the future and really looking forward to next year.

There is also no bad blood between the Caterpillar team and myself.

I have really enjoyed the guys company over the past three years and I thank them for their efforts.

The thing I will really miss is all the guys at Caterpillar itself.

The customers and dealers across the country have been fantastic supporters of myself and team and I have developed some great friendships.

I am sure some of them will be disappointed that we have decided to go ourseparate ways but sometimes these things are a bit like a marriage – they don’t always last forever (I know that all too well).

It is going to be interesting taking a look from the other side of the fence for the next couple of races.

It is going to give me a few clues as to where I will head for next year.



Good to hear JB will only stay with Ford. Hope he find a good drive with success next year.

BJ

[racer69]

Good to see he will be back, it would be a shame if he didn't get a drive, i just hope he gets a steer with an already established team, rather than a new one, as he would just be starting from scratch again, like with CAT, look how long that took to get competitive.

He deserves more than just 1 championship and 2 Bathursts, 89 ATCC springs to mind.

[DNQ]

Ah, good to see JB isn't going to swap to Holden

[Brock]

I hope JB finds a good drive he is one of the few ford drivers I have the time of day for. As for Briggs, Who gives a ****, I hope Bowey punts one or more of his cars off at the first race next season

[jetsetter]

You can forget about Briggs Motorsport being a force for a long time, Bowe finally finds form in the car and then gets shafted. Makes you wonder if John Briggs is scared of success or maybe he's been taking advice from the Stone Brothers.

[Fulton]

I don't think that JB was planning to spend a long time with Briggs anyway. He told me that he would have ran to FTR in 1999 but had just signed with Briggs. In the end I hope JB will get a competitive car next year!

[marcus]

4 or 5 interesting offers...well I for one would like to know about them

he has driven for Holden before ..he has done several Wanneroo endurance races aboard a Holden and it doesnt bother me which way he goes ..I just want to see JB there and blocking like mad

[Alan Jones]

yeah JB, stay with the faith my friend, we all love ya