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Van Gisbergen lines up for latest off-road challenge

01 Feb 2022
Supercars champion to test off-road skills in national rally series
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Shane van Gisbergen will compete in the opening round of the 2022 RSEA Safety Motorsport Australia Rally Championship.

The reigning Supercars champion will make his ARC debut in the Netier National Capital Rally in Canberra across April 1-3.

The 32-year-old will compete in a Race Torque Engineering-prepared Skoda Fabia R5 rally car.

Van Gisbergen is no stranger to off-road driving, having won the inaugural Battle of Jack’s Ridge in 2020. He also won his class in the City of Auckland Rally.

Van Gisbergen's effort will be backed by Red Bull, Harvey Norman, Omen and Hoosier.

"I just love driving and competing against the best," van Gisbergen said.

"Rally drivers are the best-of-the-best. You’re driving a car as fast as you can and it’s on gravel, it’s so foreign to me, listening to someone else tell you where to go.

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"It’s an awesome challenge and I want to see if I can adapt and get better and better at it and hopefully have a proper go at it.

"This is a great initiation and we’ve got some pretty cool people on board.

"I’ve always grown up with rally, but it’s nerve-wracking to finally be in the national series in a proper car.

"I’ve dipped the toe in the water in New Zealand, but to do a championship round is going to be pretty tough to jump straight in.

"I won’t be doing the whole Championship, but I’ll go and do the first round and have some fun."

Experienced co-driver and three-time national champion Glen Weston will sit alongside van Gisbergen at the event.

The livery for the Skoda Fabia R5 will be released in the coming weeks.

Van Gisbergen competing in the 2020 Battle of Jack's Ridge

Weston has previously co-driven for many of the country’s top talents, including Scott Pedder, as well as Molly Taylor and Dean Herridge.

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This latest opportunity comes after van Gisbergen was unable to travel to New Zealand for a rally event last year, due to COVID-related border restrictions.

Van Gisbergen will get the opportunity to sit in and familiarise himself in his Skoda rally car at the ARC pre-season test day in March.

"I’ll try and study as much film as I can to see the roads and see how people approach it," van Gisbergen said of his preparation.

"I’ll be playing on my sim a lot, I’ve got an HP Omen at home, I’ll play the DiRT Rally game on that and learn to process the notes, how to approach things, and get my brain thinking about that.

"I don’t set any goals, I’ll just go there, have fun and as long as I’m prepared as well as I can and the car runs well, I’ll go and drive and things will happen.

"[One of my idols is] Possum Bourne, he was from just down the road where I was. He was coming over here and smoking all the Aussies, so I always supported him.

"It’s awesome to be part of the Red Bull family and to drive with them in Supercars, but now in rally as well.

"They are an [Australian Rally] Championship sponsor too, so it’s pretty awesome for them to be supporting the sport and I hope I can represent them well.

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"I can’t wait to get out there and throw some stones."

Motorsport Australia Director of Motorsport & Commercial Operations, Michael Smith added: “Having Shane competing in the opening round of the RSEA Safety Motorsport Australia Rally Championship is a sign of just how strong rallying is right now in Australia.

"We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Shane to the Netier National Capital Rally.

"Motorsport Australia is delighted to have Red Bull’s support for both this initiative and also as a sponsor of the ARC itself.

"There’s a lot of excitement about our pre-season test day in March, as well as the opening round in Canberra in April.

"No doubt Shane will have his work cut out for him with all of our ARC regulars eager to not let the Supercars champion cause an upset on their home turf.

"It will be a terrific event for both competitors and spectators."

The 13-event 2022 Repco Supercars Championship will commence in Sydney in March. CLICK HERE to purchase your tickets.

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