Van Gisbergen upbeat despite tough rally comeback

Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen was happy to show speed in his rally comeback ahead of this weekend’s Tasmania round.

New Zealand local Gisbergen returned to competitive rallying in Whangarei last weekend.

The Kiwi’s Saturday was undone by car troubles, while his Sunday was derailed by a spin and off in two of the morning’s first three stages.

After being forced to retire from Saturday’s action, van Gisbergen came out on Sunday and had a point to prove.

He had pace to burn, being second only to eventual rally winner Hayden Paddon in both Saturday stages he started.

Sunday began with a spin through the Waiotira stage, before van Gisbergen ran off-road in the third stage of the day at Waipu Caves.

Van Gisbergen was one of a number of Supercars names in action over the weekend.

Red Bull Ampol Racing teammate Broc Feeney went home empty-handed in his trip to Thailand.

Feeney and Prince Jefri Ibrahim finished 15th in the GT World Challenge Asia race on Sunday at the Buriram International Circuit.

Erebus Motorsport's Will Brown had a trying weekend in TCR Australia at Phillip Island, suffering a spate of technical dramas in his Audi.

Dick Johnson Racing co-driver Tony D'Alberto also had a tricky weekend, scoring results of DNF, 13th and 11th.

Tickford Racing co-driver James Moffat extended his Trans Am points lead, with Super2 driver Nash Morris winning both Sunday races.

Morris' Super2 rival Lochie Dalton scored a Race 3 podium, while Moffat's Tickford stablemate Tyler Everingham suffered technical issues in the finale.

Van Gisbergen, who is third in the Supercars standings, is set to compete in a further three Brian Green Property New Zealand Rally Championship starts this year.

"A tough weekend for us in Whangarei that’s for sure,” he posted to social media.

“We had a few issues but the stages we did complete we showed some speed at least.

"Reset and have another go in a couple of months. Rally is an addicting sport."

The 2023 Repco Supercars Championship will resume at the NED Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint this weekend.

Tickets for the event are on sale on Supercars.com and Ticketek.com.