Shane van Gisbergen

Shane van Gisbergen took his maiden Virgin Australia Supercars Championship in stunning fashion in 2016, his first season in Red Bull colours with Triple Eight.

The Kiwi started his title defence with a commanding double-victory on the streets of Adelaide last year, and remained in contention during the campaign.

However he ultimately had to settle for fourth in the standings, adding a further three wins to his career victory tally.

The silverware adds to an already-impressive haul since Triple Eight added a third Commodore for van Gisbergen in 2016, along with the PIRTEK Enduro Cup and Jason Richards Trophy won that year.

It is now more than 10 years since van Gisbergen burst onto the Supercars scene with Team Kiwi Racing in the middle of 2007.

During a torrentially wet weekend at Oran Park, he finished 13th in one race and set the third-fastest lap in another.

Stone Brothers Racing became Van Gisbergen’s home in 2008, continuing to demonstrate brilliant car control in the wet early.

As he matured, performances became far more consistent and he teetered on the brink of victory for a few seasons, before breaking through on some soil at the Hamilton street circuit in 2011.

He left SBR at the end of 2012 in controversial circumstances as it was due to become Erebus Motorsport, linking with Tekno Autosports for ’13.

Van Gisbergen took his first win driving a Holden on his Tekno debut in Adelaide, winning nine over his three-year tenure and finishing runner-up to Jamie Whincup in the 2014 championship.

A versatile driver, van Gisbergen is also building an impressive record in sportscar racing that includes winning the 2016 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup with McLaren.