Lowndes: I wish we kept racing in Texas

Ahead of his wildcard debut in the BP Supercars All Stars Eseries, Craig Lowndes has revealed he wanted the category to keep racing at the Circuit of the Americas.

WATCH: LOWNDES ON HOW SIM RACING IS 'A DIFFERENT WORLD'

Lowndes was one of the 28 Supercars drivers who took to the track in Austin, Texas, as part of the 2013 international Championship.

Driving his #888 Red Bull Holden Commodore, as he will tonight on a virtual version of the circuit, Lowndes finished second in the opening three races and fifth in the final race of the only US meet held in Supercars history.

Lowndes recalled his time at COTA, saying local fans knew more about the Championship than expected.

“It was quite amazing. When it first became a reality of us flying halfway around the world, taking what we know as a product here in Australia to America was sensational,” he said.

“I loved it. I think everyone did.

“The interesting thing was the temperature, the climate, was very different to what we expected. It was really hot; I know a lot of us suffered.

“To be honest the Americans knew a lot about what we were all about in the sense of Supercars.

“They were very appreciative, they were very polite, they loved the cars.

“I just wished it was going to get to continue.”

The 45-year-old says he doesn’t think any of the drivers who raced in Texas seven years ago will hold an advantage over those who weren’t there in a Supercar.

“I think whatever advantage [from racing there previously] is now gone,” the seven-time Bathurst winner said.

“I think most of the drivers now have been on the simulator and logged in and done laps of the track.

“Initially you knew where the lefts and the rights were and the undulation of everything, but again the sim is a completely different world.

“For me now, relating that from reality to sim work, is probably more difficult.

“Once you get your head around what you need to do to drive the sim to maximise your lap time, I think that’s more valuable to actually knowing the tracks in real life.”

The three-time Supercars champion will race in his #888 Holden Commodore at COTA tonight, using the current Red Bull Holden livery with bright yellow wheels.

With Garth Tander also to use the Red Bull livery, fans will be seeing double-double with four Triple Eight Commodores lining up in Round 6.

They will take on one of the best online and real-life racers in the world, F1 star Lando Norris who returns after last week’s debut at Spa, Belgium.

The trio are among six wildcards named to take part in tonight’s action.

NASCAR’s Austin Cindric, Aussie IndyCar Champion Will Power and Dunlop Super2 Series rookie Josh Fife will also join to make up the 31-car field.

Qualifying for Round 6 will begin at 6pm AEST and will be broadcast exclusively on Fox Sports 506 before racing begins at 7pm.

From 7pm, racing will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 506, Kayo, Sky Sports (NZ) and 10 Play.

Online fans from around the globe can watch races via the Supercars’ Facebook Page and Supercars teams' Facebook pages, Twitch and YouTube.

10 Bold will show a full replay of Round 6 on Saturday afternoon from 1-3pm.