Retiring Virgin Australia Supercars Championship icon Craig Lowndes has been named the 2018 ABC Sport Personality of the Year. 

The three-time Supercars champion was presented with the award in front of Australian sport royalty during the black-tie AIS Sport Performance Awards at the Star in Sydney. 

Nominated in an impressive pool of 14 other inspirational Australian sporting figures, Lowndes took out the award ahead of international personalities such as basketball’s Ben Simmons, rugby’s Billy Slater and football’s Sam Kerr.  

Remarkably, Lowndes’ award was one of two to be determined by public vote, with the other being the best sporting moment won by Paralympian Kurt Fearnley’s marathon triumph, as up to 20,000 Australians voted for the two public choice awards. 

The award caps off a fantastic 2018 for the 44-year-old, which included a race victory at Symmons Plains before winning the prestigious Bathurst 1000 alongside Steve Richards, as well as placing fourth outright in the Supercars standings. 

Lowndes’ seventh Bathurst victory also saw him claim the Pirtek Enduro Cup alongside co-driver Steven Richards, while also being deemed honorary citizen of Bathurst.

Following his emotional full-time driving retirement in Newcastle last month where his contributions to the sport were celebrated, Lowndes will now race solely as a co-driver for Triple Eight, while looking to build his career overseas.