SHANE van Gisbergen has confirmed he plans to leave the Repco Supercars Championship at the end of this season.
After winning Race 2 of the Sydney SuperNight in emphatic fashion, van Gisbergen for the first time made it crystal clear that his preference to quit Supercars in favour of NASCAR in 2024.
On Friday, Triple Eight boss Jamie Whincup set a two-week soft deadline to know the situation for 2024.
Van Gisbergen was less willing to put an exact deadline on a decision, noting a key condition in his mindset: that Triple Eight must find a suitable replacement.
“There’s obviously a lot happening in the background but I’m not leaving because of this team,” van Gisbergen said.
“I love this team and when I leave, I want to make sure there’s someone here to replace me that’s going to do a good job.
“I don’t want to leave the team with nothing, scrambling to find someone.
“There are a lot of the good drivers here signed up, so yeah, I want to leave with the team in a good spot, so hopefully the team have someone soon.”
Countless drivers have already been linked to the seat but a favourite is yet to emerge.
Cam Waters, Chaz Mostert, Brodie Kostecki, Will Brown, Anton De Pasquale, Will Davison, Andre Heimgartner, Matt Payne and Mark Winterbottom are all contracted elsewhere for 2024.
Meanwhile, van Gisbergen noted that he mightn’t go straight in as a NASCAR full-timer next year, but that he wouldn’t juggle a partial Cup Series campaign with Supercars.
Rather, it sounds like he might run at selected events next year with a view to more down the track.
“I don’t know yet. There’s still a lot to work out,” said van Gisbergen.
Asked of whether he’d go straight in at the top tier or build up through the lower levels, SVG added: “I have no idea. But when I study it, Marcos (Ambrose) did three years before he went to Cup full-time.
“(Juan Pablo) Montoya was pretty much a whole season as well. Like no one has ever gone into Cup and I have no illusion that those ovals are going to be easy.
“It’s going to take a long time to learn. I haven’t got a plan yet, hopefully I will work it out when I’m over there.”
