Van Gisbergen joins legends with Chevrolet win
Victory at the Thrifty Newcastle 500 aboard his new Chevrolet Camaro Supercar has helped Shane van Gisbergen join an exclusive group.
Van Gisbergen defeated Ford star Chaz Mostert in Sunday’s Race 2 in the second race of the new Camaro vs Mustang era.
It was officially van Gisbergen’s 76th career victory, and 65th with Triple Eight.
Van Gisbergen — who won races in Fords and Holdens — has now won championship races for three different brands.
The milestone win initially happened on Saturday, with van Gisbergen crossing the line first in Race 1, only to be disqualified over a technical breach.
The reigning champion became just the sixth driver in ATCC/Supercar history to win in three different makes of car, and just the third this century.
Countrymen Jim Richards and Scott McLaughlin, current Ford rival Will Davison, Tony Longhurst and the late Bob Jane all won for three different makes.
Supercars Hall of Famer Jane won championship races in Jaguar, Fords and Chevrolet.
Richards won two championships each for BMW and Nissan, and also won in Holdens.
Longhurst won the Bathurst 1000 in both Fords and Holdens, and also raced and won in BMWs.
Davison's first victory came aboard a Dick Johnson Racing Ford at Eastern Creek in 2008.
Victory No. 1, with SBR in 2011
The third-generation driver moved to the Holden Racing Team in 2009 and won the Great Race with Garth Tander.
Davison then returned to the Blue Oval with Ford Performance Racing in 2011, and won 10 races for the team between 2012 and 2013.
He inked a surprise deal with Erebus Motorsport in 2014 — and won in one of the team’s Mercedes-AMG Supercars in Perth a year later.
Davison returned to Holden with Tekno Autosports and famously won the 2016 Bathurst 1000.
That was Davison's most recent victory until he won three races for the Shell V-Power Racing Team in 2022.
McLaughlin was the most recent driver to secure wins with three different brands.
First Holden win, 2013
The now-IndyCar star won 56 races in his career, the first coming as a Garry Rogers Motorsport rookie at Pukekohe in 2013.
McLaughlin became a cult hero when GRM raced Volvos between 2014 and 2016, and he won six races in S60 Supercars.
The Kiwi’s greatest successes came with the Shell V-Power Racing Team, McLaughlin winning 48 races and three straight drivers’ titles.
Van Gisbergen first won aboard a Stone Brothers Racing Falcon at Hamilton in 2011, and won again in Darwin.
He shifted to Holden with Tekno in 2013, and won on debut with the team in 2013.
Van Gisbergen has won 65 of his 209 career starts with Triple Eight — a strike rate of 31 per cent — since joining the team in 2016.
The 2023 Repco Supercars Championship will resume at the Beaurepaires Melbourne SuperSprint on March 30-April 2.
