Kiwi was happy to fly flag at Bathurst

SHANE van Gisbergen’s celebration lap with the Holden flag after the famous brand’s fairytale farewell at the Bathurst 1000 will go down as iconic images at Mount Panorama.

But the new Bathurst champion has revealed he initially had other plans in mind to mark his breakthrough win in the Great Race on Sunday.

Speaking after a long night of celebrations following his emotional win for the Red Bull Holden Racing Team with Garth Tander, van Gisbergen explained the famous red flag’s final victory lap.

“I was thinking of grabbing the chequered flag like speedway style,” van Gisbergen said.

“And then I saw the guy on the back straight (with the Holden flag) and got him over and it worked out awesome.

“And then seeing the footage of it, the p pictures, it looked great.

“I’m really p proud to represent and race for Holden here in the last official race to get the win was cool.”

As Holden’s official involvement in Supercars came to an end, van Gisbergen claimed his maiden Bathurst 1000 crown after finishing runner-up in the race twice before.

The 31-year-old New Zealander held off Tickford Racing star Cameron Waters in a classic Holden versus Ford duel to the finish.

The victory gave Tander his fourth Bathurst 1000 win.

The pair celebrated long into the night with their Triple Eight squad.

Tander, who also teamed with van Gisbergen last year to finish second at Bathurst, hoped van Gisbergen’s breakthrough Bathurst win would open him up to more success.

“The way he performed (on Sunday) was absolutely amazing,” Tander said.

“That stint when it was just drizzling in the middle part of the race and he moved us from third up into the lead in incredibly tricky conditions was what really set the race up for us. And the way he managed those last three stints was head and shoulders above everyone else.”