Van Gisbergen: We didn't have the speed

Shane van Gisbergen admits his Triple Eight entry was "never really in the hunt" in Sunday’s 12 Hour.

Van Gisbergen brought the #888 Mercedes-AMG home third, some 90 seconds behind the winner.

Mercedes-AMGs swept the LIQUI MOLY Bathurst 12 Hour podium.

Jules Gounon and SunEnergy1 Racing completed a stunning victory.

There was a victory of sorts for Triple Eight, which shared a technical alliance with SunEnergy1.

Former Triple Eight boss Roland Dane also acted as team manager for the squad.

The #888 started fifth and hovered around the podium positions for much of the second half.

The car lost a lap in the first half after van Gisbergen was forced to wait at pit exit.

However, van Gisbergen, Broc Feeney and Prince Jefri Ibrahim fought tooth and nail to score a podium.

That, however, was as far as van Gisbergen expected the car to get.

The Supercars championship leader had particular praise for debutant Am driver Ibrahim.

Ibrahim completed much of his running in the wet, before battling Kevin Tse and Pro Audi ace Kelvin van der Linde.

"For us to come away with a podium is pretty awesome," van Gisbergen said.

"For us, we were never really in the hunt, but we made no mistakes, and we had some really good strategy calls.

"Because of that we got rewarded with third place which is great.

"I thought Prince Jefri did a great job, especially in the early stages when he was on slick tyres in the wet.

"He had to stay out there a little longer than what he would have liked.

"He did an awesome job and brought the car home for Broc and myself.

"Both Iman [Ibrahim] and Broc did really well all day. We did everything right, but we just didn’t have car speed."

Ibrahim was overwhelmed to score a podium on debut.

"It feels great to finish my first Bathurst 12 Hour with a podium," he said.

"I never expected to achieve this, so it’s a great feeling to share this moment with the Triple Eight family.

"To share the podium with Shane and Broc really means a lot, and hopefully I can learn more from them and come back next year even stronger.

"The conditions were really tough out there; one of the toughest races I’ve had.

"The track was really slippery but I just focused on keeping the car straight so that I could pass it to Shane or Broc when it was their stint.

"I just wanted to bring the car home without making any unnecessary mistakes."

The LIQUI MOLY Bathurst 12 Hour will return in February 2023.

The 2022 Supercars season will resume at Winton this weekend. Purchase your tickets now.