SHANE van Gisbergen is right in the hunt for a fourth Supercars championship and, somewhat unusually, he’s been open about talking up the big picture game.
Having won titles in 2016, 2021 and 2022 – all with Triple Eight – van Gisbergen has endured a frustrating year filled with frustrations about Gen3 handling woes.
In spite of that, he remarkably holds second in the championship and could leave Bathurst with the points lead.
Van Gisbergen is 155 points behind Erebus Motorsport’s Brodie Kostecki, and given that both run Chevrolets, the ongoing uncertainty around whether or not a Ford parity tweak is approved will not really affect their particular battle for the overall season prize.
MORE: Kostecki vows to be aggressive at Bathurst
Adding to the van Gisbergen scenario is that it’s his last season in Supercars before departing to begin a NASCAR career with Trackhouse Racing.
Speaking at Mount Panorama, van Gisbergen said he has spoken with Triple Eight about returning as a Bathurst 1000 co-driver next year pending the release of Supercars’ and NASCAR’s respective 2024 calendars (and any potential clashes).
Beyond that he batted away questions about 2024, declaring his complete focus on Bathurst and the Supercars title race.
“There’s 300 points up for grabs this weekend and the championship is still well alive so I’m ready to do our best and hopefully come out of here with a lot of points,” said SVG.
“It hasn’t been the best year feeling-wise but we’re still scoring a lot of points.
“Even on tough weekends we’re still getting top fives and still chipping away at it.
“So for sure we’re still in the hunt but Brodie definitely has a faster car and he’s driving very well so we need to find a little bit more speed. But we’re not out of it yet.”
After finishing third in the Sandown 500, van Gisbergen said it would mean “everything” to him to go well at Mount Panorama in combination with friend and Kiwi compatriot Richie Stanaway.
