The worlds of V8 Supercar racing and drifting are usually kept quite far apart but last weekend Kiwi race driver Shane van Gisbergen brought them together. After achieving his second V8 Supercars win and first on Aussie soil (read news) ‘the Giz’ decided to celebrate with a victory lap – going sideways.

The commentators mistakenly thought van Gisbergen’s smokey slides were accidental, stemming from excessive tyre wear but quickly worked out he was hamming it up for the Darwin fans. The Giz went on to fill Hidden Valley Raceway with the smell of tyre smoke and considering the steering ratios of a V8 Supercar,  did well to get as sideways as he could.

At 22 years old Van Gisbergen is the youngest driver in the top-tier series and has almost a professional obligation to pull some reckless moves on occasion and the crowd loved him for it. (more…)

The V8 Supercars round in Darwin has again proved fruitful for Kiwi V8 driver Shane Kiwi Shane van Gisbergen. It was at Hidden Valley Raceway that ‘the Giz’ enjoyed two podium finishes at the SkyCity Triple Crown meeting and this year he went even better claiming his first V8 Supercar win on Australian soil at the Darwin circuit.

This landmark victory comes almost two months to the day after the 22-year-old claimed his first series win at his home round in Hamilton and with two wins to his name now van Gisbergen is a genuine 2011 title contender.

He claimed his second win in style too, following up from the disappointment of a clash and subsequent scrabble to finish seventh in Saturday’s race with an epic drive through the pack from his sixth row starting position to eventually catch and pass Craig Lowndes for the lead of Sunday’s race with just three laps to go.

In doing so van Gisbergen proved the wisdom of Stone Brothers Racing’s tyre strategy, the team choosing to start its drivers on the harder ‘control’ tyre and save the softer ‘option’ tyre until later on, when – as happened – a Safety Car period might play into their hands. (more…)