Teen to title winner: van Gisbergen's road to 200 rounds
The BP Ultimate Sydney SuperSprint will be a special occasion for Shane van Gisbergen, who will record his 200th round start.
Van Gisbergen will become just the 20th driver in ATCC/Supercars history to record the milestone, and the fourth New Zealander.
The series leader will draw level with countryman Greg Murphy, with contemporary Fabian Coulthard the most-capped Kiwi with 211 rounds.
Van Gisbergen made his debut aboard a Stone Brothers Racing-prepared Team Kiwi Racing Falcon at a rain-soaked Oran Park in 2007.
Fast forward 14 years, and van Gisbergen has recorded over 50 race wins, a Bathurst victory in 2020, and a drivers’ title in 2016.
Heading to this weekend, van Gisbergen is 337 points ahead of Red Bull Ampol Racing teammate Jamie Whincup, who will become the sixth driver to record 250 round starts.
While his focus is firmly on retaining his series lead, van Gisbergen acknowledged the gravity of his achieve-ment.
“I haven’t really thought about it, but I’m lucky to do what I’ve done for so long,” he told Supercars.com.
“There’s a long way to go, I hope, in my career.
“It’s what you dream of, it’s why I started racing, it’s what I still dream of doing, is becoming a champion and winning Bathurst again.
An 18-year-old van Gisbergen debuted at Oran Park
“It’s the best feeling and it’s my life goal. I’d love to do it again.”
Van Gisbergen claimed his first podium and race win with SBR before he sealed a high-profile move to Tekno Autosports in 2013.
He won on his Tekno debut in Adelaide and scored a number of key victories for the team before he shifted to Triple Eight in 2016.
In his first season with Triple Eight, he won eight races, recorded his first Bathurst podium, and beat Whincup to the drivers’ title.
Van Gisbergen and Whincup’s careers have largely intertwined; van Gisbergen’s first career podium in Abu Dhabi came in a race Whincup won.
It was a baptism of fire at Oran Park in 2007
Whincup also defeated van Gisbergen in a thrilling Gold Coast race in 2010.
In six seasons as teammates, van Gisbergen has won 42 races to Whincup’s 27, but they have a title each; van Gisbergen in 2016, and Whincup 2017.
The 2021 season has belonged to van Gisbergen, who has won 13 races to Whincup’s two.
Whincup, however, had the most recent laugh with victory in last Sunday’s wet-weather classic. Van Gisbergen had a shocker, and was classified 23rd.
Van Gisbergen has won races at both Sydney events, but refused to play into his own form, instead keeping the gaze on Anton De Pasquale and the Shell V-Power Racing Team.
Van Gisbergen won on debut with Tekno in 2013
The Shell Ford squad has scored podiums in each Sydney race so far, with De Pasquale winning three of them and scoring four poles.
“You always hope that, but we simply haven’t been fast enough,” van Gisbergen said of further success in Syd-ney.
“There are other Holden teams that are doing a job as well, so we need to improve.
“We were definitely better second [Sydney] weekend, but still lacking to some cars.
“Apart from the last race last weekend, we’ve been getting pretty good results, we’ve just got to be con-sistent.”
Van Gisbergen's Bathurst dream came true last year
The 2021 Repco Supercars Championship will resume this weekend at the BP Ultimate Sydney Super-Sprint.
Every session of the event will be broadcast live on Foxtel (Fox Sports 506) and streamed on Kayo.
The Seven Network will showcase highlights of the event.
Tickets for the event are on sale now.
Most ATCC/Supercars round starts*
298: Craig Lowndes286: Garth Tander265: Rick Kelly260: Jason Bright253: Russell Ingall249: Jamie Whincup**247: Mark Winterbottom**243: Todd Kelly226: John Bowe220: Mark Skaife217: Will Davison**, James Courtney**213: Lee Holdsworth212: Peter Brock211: Fabian Coulthard**209: Glenn Seton207: Steven Richards204: Dick Johnson200: Greg Murphy199: Shane van Gisbergen**
*Correct to the ARMOR ALL Sydney SuperNight**Active full-time driver
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