Van Gisbergen crashes out of enduro test

Red Bull Ampol Racing has suffered a major setback at its pre-enduro test day, with Shane van Gisbergen crashing after a suspected brake failure.

Van Gisbergen went off at Turn 6 at approximately 9:45am local time early in Tuesday’s running at Queensland Raceway.

The reigning champion, who has won two of the last three Bathurst 1000s, ran through the Turn 6 sand trap before firing head on into the Turn 6 barriers.

Van Gisbergen got out of the car and watched on as officials towed the car back to the pits, with testing halted as the damaged Camaro was retrieved.

The team later confirmed that a brake failure caused the crash, with van Gisbergen extricating himself from the crash via the passenger door.

The incident brought a halt to the morning’s running, with all Queensland teams on track at the Ipswich venue.

All southern teams, meanwhile, are on site at Winton Motor Raceway as they ready for next weekend’s Penrite Oil Sandown 500.

The #97 Camaro was initially set to head back to Triple Eight’s workshop for repairs, with the car picking up heavy front end damage. However, the team is attempting trackside repairs.

Triple Eight Race Engineering is running three cars at Tuesday’s test, with the Broc Feeney/Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes/Zane Goddard wildcard also on track.

It’s the third time this season that van Gisbergen has crashed following incidents at Albert Park and Tasmania. Van Gisbergen spun out of practice in Melbourne before his car was repaired, with the Kiwi winning Race 3.

However, he suffered a worse fate at Symmons Plains when he was escorted off the road and crashed at Turn 7, consigning him to his first DNF since 2020.

The New Zealander was moved into the team’s wildcard chassis in Sydney, and it was retained for The Bend before being left with the 34-year-old for the remainder of the season.

Van Gisbergen will race with countryman Richie Stanaway at the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 on September 15-17, and Repco Bathurst 1000 on October 5-8.