Mr Consistent: Van Gisbergen's epic winning stat
When the 2021 Repco Supercars Championship season resumes, points leader Shane van Gisbergen will have a shot at more history.
Already this year, the New Zealander has matched a consecutive wins record to open a season, and brought up 50 career wins in Townsville.
Van Gisbergen has won 11 races this year en route to a hefty 276-point lead over Red Bull Ampol Racing teammate Jamie Whincup.
Any season you rack up 11 or more races, you’ll be in the fight for a championship.
SVG won in Bathurst in February, and hasn't looked back
However, it’s how van Gisbergen has done his winning which proves why he has been the driver to beat.
There have been seven events so far in 2021, and van Gisbergen has won at least one race at six of them.
The weekend he didn’t win a race - at The Bend Motorsport Park in May - he recorded the most points for the round.
If van Gisbergen can win a race at the remaining five rounds in 2021, he will finish with victories at 11 of the season’s 12 events.
McLaughlin in 2019 was a different breed
Countryman Scott McLaughlin set the benchmark in 2019 - that year, he won at least one race in the opening 12 rounds of the season.
McLaughlin won a record 18 races in 2019, all coming to that year’s Bathurst 1000, which was the 25th race of the season.
He went to another level in 2020 - according to V8 Sleuth, McLaughlin nearly became the first driver in the multi-race round era of the championship to win a race at every round within a season.
Skaife won at nine different events in 2002 Pic: AN1 Images
The streak ended at Mount Panorama, where van Gisbergen combined with Garth Tander to win the Great Race.
McLaughlin and van Gisbergen are in good company; Jamie Whincup’s remarkable run of titles featured some remarkable consistency.
Whincup won at eight different events in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2013. He won at nine in 2012 and 2014, the seasons he clinched the title with a round to spare.
Craig Lowndes won in eight of the 10 events in seasons 1996 and 1998, with Mark Skaife winning at nine of 13 in 2002. On each occasion, they won the title.
Van Gisbergen can make it seven from eight at the Winton SuperSprint across October 2-3.
