NO BULL FOR JAMIE
ONLY TITLE WILL DO
SHANE van Gisbergen has revealed he has made winning the Bathurst 1000 a standalone goal for the first time in his career.
The Red Bull whiz wants to become a legend of the sport by adding a Mount Panorama crown to his trophy cabinet.
Having broken through to win his first Supercars title by out-blasting Supercars legend Jamie Whincup last year, Gold Coast-based van Gisbergen has declared a new burning desire to put his name beside the likes of Peter Brock, Dick Johnson and Craig Lowndes on the Bathurst 1000 trophy.
In a surprise admission heading into this weekend’s round at Queensland Raceway given Bathurst is the jewel in the crown, the Kiwi top gun said he had always considered the 1000km epic to be another “points’’ battle in the race to the series title. Not anymore.
“I really do want that one (Bathurst) now,’’ he said.
“Certainly more than I did before. In previous years I have never focused on it. It was just worth 300 points to me. But now, after having ticked of some other boxes, it has become a real goal. There is certainly a bit more desire there to win it after having won that championship.’’
Van Gisbergen’s Bathurst bravado is not a championship concession with the Holden driver adamant he can still mow down Ford flyers DJR Team Penske.
Trailing leader Scott McLaughlin by 231 points heading into this weekend’s Ipswich Super Sprint, van Gisbergen doesn’t see why he cannot win Bathurst and the Supercars championship.
“I think the gap is bridgeable,’’ he said.
“Especially with the endurance races coming up. There are some big weekends coming up and anything can happen. We are working on our consistency and it is definitely not over and we can fight for the championship.”