One of the nation's most popular sporting heroes, Craig Lowndes returns home to Holden for 2010 as TeamVodafone makes one of the biggest moves in recent years to campaigning VE Commodores.

The three-time V8 Supercar champion is also a four-time Bathurst victor and made an early debut in Australian motorsport, competing in his first event at just nine years of age.

Go-Karting was the starting point for the talented youngster, who quickly showed the potential to rise through the ranks, winning the national Formula Ford title in 1993 and the Formula Holden Silver Star class in 1994.

That success put him on the radar of prominent V8 Supercar team, Holden Racing Team (HRT), with Lowndes earning a drive in the endurance races and finishing second on debut at Bathurst in 1994.

Lowndes joined HRT fulltime in 1996 and was an instant success. He took out his first-ever championship round and went on to become the youngest ever Australian Touring Car Champion, before winning the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000.

After an international venture in 1997 campaigning unsuccessfully in Formula 3000, Lowndes returned to Australia and re-asserted himself on the V8 Supercar scene - winning the championship in 1998 and 1999.

In 2001, Lowndes made the most controversial move of any Australian race driver, switching from Holden to Ford.

After a handful of seasons with limited success, highlighted by podium finishes at Bathurst in 2003 and 2004 with Ford Performance Racing, Lowndes joined Triple Eight Race Engineering in 2005. A powerhouse internationally, Triple Eight was a perfect match for Lowndes and he finished second in the championship that year.

Lowndes narrowly missed out on the 2006 title, finishing second in a year which included his second Bathurst 1000 victory, and was third in 2007 after another Bathurst triumph.

In 2008, Lowndes recorded another strong season, finishing fourth in the championship and helping TeamVodafone to their inaugural team's title. Along with team-mate Jamie Whincup, Lowndes won a history-making, third-consecutive Bathurst 1000.

He remained a title contender in 2009, finishing fourth in the championship and now enters his sixth straight season with the Roland Dane-led squad.