Shane van Gisbergen signs new Triple Eight contract

Shane van Gisbergen has signed a new multi-year contract extension with the Triple Eight that will see him continue at the wheel of the #97 Chevrolet Camaro in the Supercars Championship.

The triple champion joined the Red Bull-backed team at the beginning of the 2016 season and went on to secure his first championship title before emerging on top of the pile again in both 2021 and 2022.

The Kiwi has scored 77 wins in the series – including two victories at Bathurst – and hit 170 podium finishes during the Australian GP support event in Melbourne to go second on the all-time list behind Jamie Whincup.

“Extending with Red Bull Ampol Racing was a no-brainer for me,” he said. “It’s certainly exciting to continue with the best team in pit lane and I’m stoked to be able to stay.

“I’ve never been happier at this team. The coolest moment for me, and one that really solidified my decision was the team repairing my car after I had that shunt at the Australian Grand Prix – everyone stuck in to help each other to get #97 fixed.

“Even though we missed the next practice session, to come out and put the car on pole in qualifying was amazing. Seeing how much that meant to everyone was a special moment, and to then win that race was unreal. It’s such a fantastic team environment at the moment, and we have a great crew that I love working with.

“I want to thank the team, our partners and our fans for their support. Triple Eight is a cool place to be a part of and I’m looking forward to the future.”

Whincup, now team principal of the Triple Eight team, admitted that he was delighted to confirm van Gisbergen would remain as lead driver in the line-up.

“It’s always great news when you have the best driver in the country deciding to put his faith in the team at Triple Eight Race Engineering to give him a fast, reliable race car to showcase his skills,” he said.

“It’s a huge honour that Shane has chosen us to continue that relationship. We will of course continue to invest in him, his support crew, engineering and mechanics, to give him the best equipment to remain competitive in the sport.

“We as a team need the best drivers in the country to showcase our skills. At the end of the day, we’re an engineering company and we pride ourselves on building the best race cars and componentry and representing ourselves in the highest regard. One of those factors is that we need someone to get behind the wheel and showcase that work we do and represent the brand and our partners in the highest possible light, and we believe Shane is the best person for that.

“We pride ourselves at Triple Eight to keep making gains and keep improving as a team – we certainly aren’t box-tickers. As a group, we’ve all been working flat out behind the scenes to ensure that we keep the trajectory that we’ve built over the past 15 years, and in some regard Shane’s extension endorses that work – if the best driver in the country wants to continue in this place, then it shows that we’re doing a good job.”