70 wins: How SVG stacks up against legends
Shane van Gisbergen joined a very exclusive group with his 70th career victory at Sandown.
Van Gisbergen won both Sunday races at the Penrite Oil Sandown SuperSprint.
The Race 26 win, which he took after a battle with Will Davison, was the 70th of his career.
Only Jamie Whincup, Craig Lowndes and Mark Skaife have won 70 or more races, and all have retired.
Van Gisbergen has won 31 of the last 57 races dating back to the 2020 Bathurst 1000.
His next marker is Scott McLaughlin's record of 18 wins in a single season, which was set in 2019.
It took a driver 23 years to break Craig Lowndes' 1996 record of 16 wins. Now, van Gisbergen could undercut McLaughlin in just three years.
It comes after van Gisbergen won 14 races en route to the 2021 championship.
Van Gisbergen has now won 59 races for Triple Eight in 199 starts, and is looming to score a third title.
In the wake of van Gisbergen’s milestone, Supercars.com lists the four drivers to have won 70 races.
Mark Skaife
First win: Perth 199170th win: Pukekohe 2003Race start: 310thAge: 36 years, 220 days
Skaife was the first driver to win 70 races, and he did so at Pukekohe in 2003.
The outgoing champion rebounded from a wet-weather spin a day earlier to win the round finale.
Craig Lowndes
First win: Eastern Creek 199670th win: Sandown 2008Race start: 339thAge: 33 years, 353 days
Lowndes was both the quickest and youngest driver to reach 50 wins, but he had to wait some time for his 70th.
Lowndes won the second leg of the 2008 Sandown round, but a freak failure on the warm-up lap ensured he didn't start the finale from pole.
Jamie Whincup
First win: Adelaide 200670th win: Austin 2013Race start: 283rdAge: 30 years, 102 days
Whincup only had to wait 18 months between his 50th and 70th wins amid a sparkling run of form.
Whincup won three of the four races at the Circuit of the Americas, the third also his 70th career victory.
Shane van Gisbergen
First win: Hamilton 201170th win: Sandown 2022Race start: 475thAge: 33 years, 104 days
Van Gisbergen wasted no time getting from 50 to 70, doing so in consecutive seasons.
Van Gisbergen has won 31 times in 57 starts since his Bathurst 1000 victory in October 2020.
Van Gisbergen opened up a 500-point lead on nearest rival Cam Waters over the weekend.
All three of van Gisbergen's closest rivals - Waters, Davison and Anton De Pasquale - struck drama at one stage at Sandown.
Van Gisbergen now heads to Pukekohe with the luxury of the major lead he wanted heading to Bathurst.
"It’s exactly been the goal for the last couple of rounds," he said of his points lead.
"I probably lost focus and was a bit too conservative at Winton and Darwin and didn’t race like I normally would have.
"Last three rounds have been full attack.
"Now I can go to Bathurst and just have a crack, and not even think about the championship.
"It’s a pretty cool place to be."
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