Van Gisbergen's final chance to surpass Tander marker

With Gen3 and the Camaro fast approaching, the Holden brand is set for its last hurrah in Supercars in 2022.

The Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will make its debut in the 2023 Repco Supercars Championship in line with the new Gen3 ruleset.

The Camaro and Ford Mustang GT prototypes tested at Queensland Raceway earlier this week.

Onboard the Camaro was defending champion Shane van Gisbergen, who dominated the 2021 season.

Last year, van Gisbergen won 14 of the season’s 30 races and clinched his second championship with a round to spare.

It took van Gisbergen’s career wins tally to 54, bringing him within two of Garth Tander and Scott McLaughlin.

Tander has an affinity with van Gisbergen, the pair winning the Great Race together in 2020. That win was Tander’s 56th in his career.

Driver-turned-broadcaster Tander won all 56 of his races in Holdens; only Jamie Whincup (91), Craig Lowndes (85) and Mark Skaife (80) won more for the General’s now retired brand.

Van Gisbergen first won for Holden in 2013

Van Gisbergen cleared Peter Brock’s Holden marker of 46 in 2021, and is now only four wins for the brand behind Tander.

McLaughlin, meanwhile, is Ford’s most successful driver with 48 wins for the Blue Oval. Mark Winterbottom is second on 38.

The Red Bull Ampol Racing driver won his first race aboard a Stone Brothers Racing Falcon in 2011 on the streets of Hamilton. He added a second in Darwin.

Van Gisbergen’s exit from SBR was followed by a move to Tekno Autosports. Van Gisbergen won on his Tekno and Holden debut in Adelaide.

Tander won all 56 races in Holdens

He won again in Homebush, won five races in 2014 and two in 2015, taking his Tekno and Holden tally to nine.

The New Zealander moved to Triple Eight Race Engineering in 2016, and has since won 43 races for the team.

Van Gisbergen has long been proud of his association with GM’s iconic Australian brand, which was retired in 2020.

Van Gisbergen famously lapped Mount Panorama with a Holden flag he had been handed with by a fan.

Speaking after that victory, van Gisbergen reminisced about his relationship with the brand: "I had some troubles joining Holden, I just remember Simon [McNamara, then sponsorship manager] and Gerald [McDornan, PR manager] and the team, all the Holden guys, how welcoming they were.

"They really felt like a family, you really felt like a Holden driver, it’s been pretty cool to be a part of it.

"Then becoming the factory team two or three years ago, having that weight on the shoulders and representing them like that is pretty special.”

Van Gisbergen’s title defence will commence on the streets of Newcastle in March. Tickets for the event are on sale now.

Most ATCC/Supercars race wins for Holden

91: Jamie Whincup85: Craig Lowndes80: Mark Skaife56: Garth Tander52: Shane van Gisbergen46: Peter Brock