DJR ’s assault on Bathurst in 1994 came after extensive development and preparation of the DJR EB5 Chassis with only one goal in mind - to win Bathurst. The Bathurst car was chassis DJR EB5 that was debuted as John Bowe's car No. 18 at the Eastern Creek ATCC round and it remained as car No. 18 for the remainder of the ATCC. However, the car was rarely a frontrunner and Bowe's best result in the ATCC was a 3rd place finish at the 9th round at Barbagallo Raceway. DJR then rested the car for the Sandown 500 before it was prepared for Bathurst where it carried Johnson's No. 17.
At Bathurst, DJR surprised most by setting the 3rd fastest qualifying time. However, things didn’t go so well for the No. 17 Falcon in the Top 10 shootout to decide the starting grid. With Dick Johnson at the wheel, the car clipped the wall at the top of the mountain and recorded a time almost a second slower than its best qualifying lap, posting the slowest time in shootout. John Bowe, who took the wheel at the start, was therefore forced to start from 10th place on the grid.
From the start, the race conditions we’re nothing short of terrible, with the wet and wild weather making life for the drivers very difficult. Despite this, the experienced paring of Bowe and Johnson were quickly at the front of the pack, where they remained for most of the day.
As the race approach the end, the changeable conditions and the long grind of 1000 kilometres meant there were just two contenders with a serious shot at victory; established veteran John Bowe aboard the No. 17 Falcon, and the then-20-year-old rookie Craig Lowndes in the Holden Racing Team's second-string Commodore.
It wasn’t until a late race Safety Car was called to make things truly interesting, setting up a 17-lap flat-out sprint to the end between the old buck and the young turk. As they charged up Mountain Straight on lap 148 Bowe covered to the inside. As millions of eyes watch TV screens around the country, Lowndes did the unimaginable: he outbraked and passed Bowe around the outside into Griffins Bend.
Lowndes lead lasted just two laps when a clumsy backmarker allowed the cool and experienced Bowe who maintained calm under pressure to retake the lead, and seal the victory in the 1994 Tooheys Bathurst 1000,
The winning time of 7hour, 3minutes 45sec was the slowest since 1976, reflecting the difficult weather conditions on the day.
Car : 1994 #17 Ford Falcon EB
Team : Dick Johnson Racing
Drivers : Dick Johnson & John Bowe
Grid : 10th
Result : 1st
Model : Biante (BR43602A - 1,100 pieces)
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