Triple Eight: Van Gisbergen still a contracted driver
Triple Eight Race Engineering has responded to Will Brown’s departure from Erebus Motorsport, stating Shane van Gisbergen is still contracted to the team.
In an Erebus statement released Friday, Brown will leave the Coca-Cola-backed team at the end of 2023 to "explore new opportunities".
It comes after earlier reports this week linked Brown to Triple Eight to replace Shane van Gisbergen, who is set to shift to NASCAR.
Three-time Supercars champion van Gisbergen revealed at the last round in Sydney that his intention was to pursue a move Stateside in 2024.
Van Gisbergen and Brown were both contracted to Triple Eight and Erebus respectively for 2024.
Triple Eight moved swiftly to respond to the Erebus statement, saying in a statement: "Shane is a contracted driver with Triple Eight until advised otherwise.
"If this changes, it will be communicated by the team. We will be making no further comment."
Last year, Brown signed a two-year extension with Erebus alongside Brodie Kostecki through to the end of 2024.
Van Gisbergen won on his NASCAR debut in July
Earlier this year, van Gisbergen inked a new deal with Triple Eight, which was revealed to be through to the end of 2024, with an option for 2025.
After winning the Sunday race in Sydney, when asked if NASCAR was his next full-time ambition, van Gisbergen replied with a "yes".
He continued: "I don’t know if I’ll be full-time. There’s obviously a lot happening in the background, but I’m not leaving because of this team.
"I love this team and, when I leave, I want to make sure that there’s someone here to replace me that’s going to do a good job in the car.
"You don’t want to leave the team with nothing, and scrambling to find someone.
"A lot of the good drivers here are signed up, so, yeah, I want to leave with the team in a good spot. Hopefully the team has someone soon."
Talking to media ahead of this weekend's NASCAR action, van Gisbergen added: "My priority is... Triple Eight, wanting to get them to have a replacement they’re happy with.
"As long as they’re happy with who’s going to replace me, I’ll be happy leaving. I’m trying to get something over here and work on it.
"I know there's there a short list of people, I think it's three or four guys. All of them I would be comfortable to replace me.
"Hopefully, one of them comes up sooner or rather than later and we can work on with it.
"I'm still loving being part of that team. Last round we had a good run, and we're still fighting pretty hard for this year's championship."
Van Gisbergen will continue his push for the 2023 Supercars title at next weekend's OTR SuperSprint.
