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…)

Great kiwi hope Shane van Gisbergen has rocked up to Darwin for this weekend’s V8 Supercar series’ annual SkyCity Triple Crown meeting with confidence after a strong result there last year. After his debut series win in Hamilton earlier this year the 22-year-old is looking for a repeat dose at the Northern Territory’s Hidden Valley circuit.

This time last year van Gisbergen set the seventh quickest lap time in the top ten shootout ans used a slick team pit strategy to get up to third place behind Mark Winterbottom and Jamie Whincup in the first race. After qualifying in 10th for the second he again worked his way up the field to an impressive third place finish.

At the event this year each day’s race will be run over a different distance, 42 laps for 120 kms on Saturday and 69 laps for a full 200kms on Sunday.

Having been fourth overall after the Perth round of this season’s series early in May van Gisbergen slipped back to fifth after the Winton round a fortnight later, but with big points in Darwin he could climb up the series leaderboard. (more…)

Shane van Gisbergen took the win in Hamilton’s ITM 400 V8 Supercars street race yesterday and earned his place as the prince of NZ Motorsport. The win was van Gisbergen’s first in the V8 Supercars and was also the first time a New Zealand-born driver has won the Hamilton event.

After starting from fourth spot on the grid, the 21-year-old from Auckland drove the race of his life to beat home Lee Holdsworth and Garth Tander and give the Stone Brothers Racing team its first win since 2008.

After showing similar form early on only to fall foul of pit issues in the first race of the weekend on Saturday, van Gisbergen always looked sharp on track yesterday, with a fast car and strategy which this time went his way throughout the 59-lap race.

In fact the only possible threat to his winning hopes was more of the rain showers which made the street circuit treacherous on Saturday. But in stark contrast to the fickle conditions the day before the rain stayed away long enough for today’s race to be run in near-idyllic conditions, with only the lightest of showers materialising in the closing laps of the race. (more…)

Stone Brothers Racing has just announced its driver pairings for the 2011 V8 Supercar Championship endurance events.

Returning to the driver’s seat in the #4 Irwin Racing Falcon will be experienced campaigner David Brabham, while in the #9 SP Tools Racing Falcon, Shane van Gisbergen will be supported once again by John McIntyre. Tim Slade in the #47 Lucky 7 Racing Falcon will pair up with Daniel Gaunt, who also returns to the SBR fold after a year at Dumbrell Motorsport.

Brabham and McIntyre’s inclusion means the team takes the same driver combinations in the #4 and #9 cars for this year’s assault on Phillip Island and Bathurst as they did in 2010.

Last year Brabham also raced with Davison at the Armor All Gold Coast 600, but is ineligible to compete as SBR’s international driver again this year under new rules which do not permit a co-driver to race in all three endurance events.

“Having drivers of the ilk of David, John and Daniel certainly won’t hurt our cause,” SBR Team Principal Ross Stone said. “All the guys have driven with us before so they understand and are comfortable with the way we do things, and fit in with the crew really well. Having this continuity also helps us when it comes to setting up the cars as our time with them is often limited,” he added. (more…)

Top Kiwi hope Shane van Gisbergen is confident of a good start to the 2011 V8 Supercar season after a strong test at Sydney’s Eastern Creek Raceway last weekend.

The 21-year-old who drives the SP Tools-backed #9 Ford Falcon for Queensland-based compatriots Ross and Jimmy Stone’s Stone Brothers Racing team set the second quickest lap time in the first session at the Sydney test day and says it was good to get back behind the wheel before the long flight to Abu Dhabi in the Middle East for the opening round of this season’s series in 10 days time.

“All round, ” he said, “it was a great day. After not being in the car for a couple of months you forget how quick they are but having said that by the end of the day you still want more power!”

Eastern Creek Raceway has not hosted a round of the V8 Supercar series since 2008, meaning all the teams at the test started off on the same footing.

“It was actually a nice change,” says van Gisbergen, ” because the circuit has a lot of different aspects to it that allow you to get a varied reading on how one change to a setting behaves across both a fast flowing sector as well as a couple of tighter corners which probably gives us a better reading on the car’s true pace and helps us perfect a good base from which to start next time we roll out of the truck.”

Last year’s Yas 400 meeting at the state-of-the-art Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi was one of van Gisbergen’s best, the young Kiwi setting the second quickest lap time in the first qualifying session then the ninth quickest time in the Top 10 Shootout before finishing sixth in the first 200 km race and third in the second.

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Top Kiwi in this year’s Australian V8 Supercar championship, Stone Brothers Racing driver Shane van Gisbergen, has cause for confidence heading into the final series round at Sydney’s Homebush street circuit this weekend.

The 21-year-old remains sixth in the series standings despite a late race crash robbing him of valuable points at the penultimate series round in Melbourne a fortnight ago. And if his form at the Gold Coast meeting in late October is anything to go by he should again be a force at Homebush this weekend.

“This year our car has suited the hotter tracks and also the street circuits. And this one (Homebush) is both! So the goal has definitely got to be getting back on the podium this weekend,” he said on Thursday.

After an impressive start and consistently strong results through the middle of the season van Gisbergen has had a trying second half of the season with a mystery engine problem slowing he and co-driver John McIntyre at Phillip Island and equipment failure (a broken bolt in the steering assembly) at Bathurst and Sandown.

Getting the most out of the car in qualifying has also been hard.

“Qualifying’s certainly our biggest weakness at the moment, but there’s nothing wrong with our race pace and though things have been a bit up and down of late I would definitely say that the highs outweigh the lows. We have had a lot of podiums this year and hopefully we will have another couple this weekend.”

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Kiwi V8 Supercar drivers, Fabian Coulthard and Shane van Gisbergen revealed yesterday that ZZ Top and Good Charlotte will be rocking out in Hamilton next April (15-17) for the new-look, new format and highly anticipated 2011 ITM400 Hamilton V8 Supercar Championship Series street race.

Rock legends ZZ Top will take the stage at Seddon Park on Saturday night following the day’s racing. The Rock Hall of Famers will get the 25,000 strong crowd on their feet with unforgettable blues rock hits. Sunday night sees pop punk heavyweights Good Charlotte round off the ITM400 weekend in style as they thrash out their hits for the crowd.

Access to both concerts is included in all tickets and with a short walk between the race track and concert venue, Hamilton will be racing and rocking all weekend.

The two high profile drivers made the announcement as part of the official launch which gave an exclusive taste of what V8 Supercars have in store as part of their highly successful ‘race by day, rock all night’ format.

Shane van Gisbergen, who is currently sitting sixth in the 2010 V8 Supercar Championship says it was great to make a high speed visit home.

“It was awesome coming home to launch the ITM400 — being the only Championship race in New Zealand it is very important to us Kiwi drivers.

“The ‘race by day, rock all night’ format is really popular in Australia and gives our fans a huge weekend of entertainment. Having Good Charlotte and ZZ Top at the event will attract even more Kiwis, both young and old from across the country,” he said.

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Van Gisbergen vs Whincup during final laps of V8 Supercars 2010 Gold Coast Race 2