VICTORY on Sunday at the Townsville 500 meant Shane van Gisbergen became just the sixth driver in ATCC/Supercars Championship history to score 50 race wins.
It’s the latest key achievement from the in-form Kiwi as he romps towards a second Supercars title.
Ten of his 50 wins have come this season and he’s now just six away from Garth Tander and Scott McLaughlin’s career tallies of 56.
The leaderboard remains headed by Jamie Whincup (123 wins), Craig Lowndes (110) and Mark Skaife (90).
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Van Gisbergen’s 50th came in his 434th Supercars Championship race start, which is actually the longest road to the half-century for any driver.
Lowndes achieved the feat the fastest (122nd start), ahead of Whincup (234th start), McLaughlin (239th start), Skaife (259th start) and Tander (401st start).
V8 Sleuth celebrates van Gisbergen’s 50th win with a look back at the milestone victories along the journey.
Win #1 – 2011 Hamilton 400, Race 2
Van Gisbergen’s Supercars breakthrough came in emphatic fashion on home soil in New Zealand at the short-lived Hamilton street event.
The victory came in his 112th career start and was the first of two triumphs with Stone Brothers Racing in 2011 on his way to fourth in the championship.
Win #10 – 2015 Gold Coast 600, Race 1
A 10th win came on Saturday at the 2015 Gold Coast 600 alongside co-driver Jonathon Webb in van Gisbergen’s third and final season with Tekno Autosports.
This was the eighth of nine wins recorded during his time at Tekno and was celebrated with a memorable burnout up against the Surfers Paradise concrete.
Win #20 – 2017 Adelaide 500, Race 1
Having scored eight wins on the way to the 2016 championship crown in his first season at Triple Eight, victory in the ’17 season opener brought up a 20th career triumph for SVG.
This was one of the driver’s most dominant weekends as he took both pole positions and both race wins, underlining his prowess on street tracks.
Relive van Gisbergen’s five Adelaide triumphs in our new book, Sensational Adelaide: An Illustrated History of the Adelaide 500, available now in the V8 Sleuth Bookshop.
Win #30 – 2018 The Bend, Race 1
The only permanent circuit on this list of milestone wins, van Gisbergen’s 30th career victory came in the first Supercars race held at The Bend Motorsport Park in South Australia.
It was his sixth of seven wins during a 2018 season in which he finished a narrow runner-up in the championship to McLaughlin.
Win #40 – 2020 Bathurst 1000
Van Gisbergen won just four races in 2020 – his least in a season since joining Triple Eight – but chalked up his 40th career win in spectacular fashion at the Bathurst finale.
The Kiwi moved to the front mid-race with sublime driving in slippery conditions and, ably backed up by co-driver Tander, drove onwards to a maiden Mount Panorama triumph.
Win #50 – 2021 Townsville 500, Race 2
A 10th win of 2021 brought up a career half-century and capped a dominant weekend in Townsville, where van Gisbergen got the better of teammate Whincup on both days.
Seven of SVG’s 50 wins have come in Townsville while exactly half have been achieved on temporary circuits (including Bathurst).
Van Gisbergen victories breakdown
Wins by Year
2011 – 2
2013 – 2
2014 – 5
2015 – 2
2016 – 8
2017 – 5
2018 – 7
2019 – 5
2020 – 4
2021 – 10
Wins by Manufacturer
Holden – 48
Ford – 2
Wins by Team
Triple Eight – 39
Tekno Autosports – 9
Stone Brothers Racing – 2
Wins by Model
Commodore ZB – 26
Commodore VF – 22
Falcon FG – 2
Wins by Circuit
Townsville – 7
Adelaide – 5
Pukekohe – 5
Hidden Valley – 4
Sydney Olympic Park – 4
Gold Coast – 4
Symmons Plains – 4
Sydney Motorsport Park – 4
Bathurst – 3
Sandown – 3
Queensland Raceway – 2
The Bend – 2
Winton – 1
Hamilton – 1
Newcastle – 1
