TRIPLE Eight co-owner Jess Dane has made a welcome return to the Supercars paddock at the Thrifty Bathurst 500.
Having relocated to the United States with partner Shane van Gisbergen, Dane is briefly back in Australia – and after missing the Saturday action at the Mountain, has popped up today.
She was one of many in the Triple Eight garage this morning cheering van Gisbergen onto a maiden NASCAR Xfinity Series podium. Now, focus turns to Supercars, with Broc Feeney and Will Brown in red-hot form.
“Honestly since I’ve been in Australia, back with friends, back in familiar territory, back home really, it’s been lovely,” Dane told V8 Sleuth, adding it was “strange” to miss the season-opening Supercars race for the first time since 2009.
“And I couldn’t ask for a better weekend: who doesn’t love coming to Bathurst? The sun is shining, I’m warm for the first time in ages, and it’s fantastic to catch up with everyone in the paddock.
“Even though it has only been less than three months since I saw everyone, it still feels like a lifetime being in a different country.
“I’m really excited to see how today goes, fingers crossed we can get another good result.”
As for life in the States?
“We are settling in well into the US. Shane is absolutely loving it, he has found his rhythm and he has found his people and is settling in really well,” said Dane.
“I think everyone can tell from the smile on his face when he is interviewed and in photos and stuff that he has almost got a whole new lease of life over there.
“Racing every single weekend is pretty much what he did anyway, but now he is just exclusively racing NASCAR every weekend, so he is loving it.
“I’m finding my feet, I’ve got plenty going on behind the scenes. I’m just in a waiting game of several pieces to fall into place, so once all of those various pieces have fallen into place, I’ll be great.
“I might be making a trip back over to Australia sooner rather than later if I need to, to do various visa appointments and things, so fingers crossed that all transpires in the next few weeks.”
