And if he was not already a legend, the two-time Bathurst 1000 winner received news this week that his lifetime involvement in the sport would see him become the 53^rd inductee of the Australia Motor Sport Hall of Fame at a gala dinner in March.

Bowe, 63, will be inducted alongside Mark Webber with the duo to join the likes of Sir Jack Brabham, Alan Jones, Mick Doohan and Peter Brock on the prestigious honour roll.

“To be honest, I am slightly overwhelmed,” the 1995 Australian Touring Car champion said.

“When you are 35 (years old) awards mean nothing, but to be recognised by the industry and your peers at this stage of my career is really very humbling.

“It has certainly been a great journey since I started racing a Formula Vee at Baskerville in Tasmania at the age of 15.

“I was proud to be included in the Supercars Hall of Fame, but to be recognised alongside the greatest this country has produced across all facets of the sport... is something else.

“I have turned plenty of laps since those Baskerville days, but I still have a desire to be out there racing and being as competitive as possible.”

Bowe’s career began by winning Tasmania’s Formula Vee title in his first racing season in 1971 and the state Formula Ford title the following year, before moving up to the Australian Drivers’ Championship in 1978 where he won the Gold Star championship in 1984 and 1985.

He made his touring car debut in 1985 after Mark Petch hired him to share the New Zealander’s Volvo 240 Turbo with Robbie Francevic at the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000.

After Volvo’s exit, Bowe spent 1987 as an endurance driver for Gibson Motorsport’s Nissan team, and claimed his first touring car win before beginning an 11-year partnership with Dick Johnson Racing the very next year.

The pair won Bathurst 1000 in 1989 in a Shell Ford Sierra, while their second victory on the circuit came following a battle with a then fresh-faced Craig Lowndes in 1994.

He moved on to the PAE Motorsport team in 1999 but split with the Ford outfit before the end of 2001 and then spent five years at Brad Jones Racing before seeing out his ATCC-V8 Supercars career driving for Paul Cruickshank in 2007. Bowe has since become a mainstay of the Touring Car Masters, winning the series five times.

Hall of Fame chairman Garry Connelly said Bowe was a deserved entrant.

“John Bowe has been one of the real achievers in Australian motorsport and his passion is obvious when you consider that he is still racing and winning on race tracks around the country,” Connelly said.

“Not only has JB always been fast, but his ability to adapt to such a vast array of machinery has been one of his great skills.”

The presentations dinner will be held in Melbourne on Friday, March 23.