Van Gisbergen on brink of achieving Le Mans 24 Hour goal
Shane van Gisbergen will tick off one of the biggest items on his motorsport bucket list when he races the Le Mans 24 Hour event this weekend.
The Kiwi was pencilled in for Le Mans in 2020 but Covid ruined that, while his Supercars commitments have clashed with the race in other years.
“It’s a race that’s been on my list for a while,” van Gisbergen told the Weekend Herald from Le Mans. “I got close but it never happened due to various reasons. It’s so good to be out on the course and a cool experience to be out there with all these guys at a high level.
“I’m really looking forward to the race. I don’t know how it’s going to go and I’ll be trying to keep up.
“The event is massive. During scrutineering, the town was packed. It’s a week-long event, and a bit much, to be honest. I’m just looking forward to going racing on Saturday.
“It’s cool to experience, though, and I’ve missed racing in Europe.”
Two years ago, he was slated to race alongside fellow Kiwi Daniel Gaunt and Nobu Yamanaka from Japan. The trio had a deal to pilot the Eurasia Motorsport LMP2.
This year, the 90th running of Le Mans, he’s racing a Ferrari 488 GTE Evo for Riley Motorsports in the GTE Pro category alongside Englishman Sam Bird and Brazilian Felipe Fraga.
Van Gisbergen is no stranger to long distance racing having previously competed at the Bathurst 12 Hour, Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup (which he won), Daytona 24 Hour, Spa 24 Hour and 12 Hours of Sebring.
“Being in a Pro car is great. They are a bit slow at the moment, doing 3m 55s, but will get faster for the race. It’s really interesting how it works here for this race. It’s different from racing in Australia, where you’re flat out from the start of every season.
“It took me a bit of time to get up to speed and I really like the track, it’s a great circuit. I’ve got a good feeling for it [the track] and it’s quite challenging. You can get quite a good flow going and I’m looking forward to the race stints and getting into it.
“It was funny driving around the place earlier, as it’s a public road during the day, then they close for practice and then open it up again.”
He has extensive experience of GT3 machines and not a lot of time in a GTE car. However, he adapted well to the car and track, setting the fifth fastest time in practice.
Qualifying was another story, with rain catching out the team, leaving them to start seventh in class and 40th overall.
“The GTE car is new to me. They have got more downforce than GT3, more power, but no ABS. The good thing is that I’m getting a lot of practice miles and will keep adapting.
“This race is getting more and more like a sprint. You don’t have safety cars and stuff where you can catch up if something goes wrong.
“If you get behind, you’re behind. I’ve been told you have to push all the way, which is pretty cool and will make for a fun race.”