Kiwi keen to break duck
SITTING comfortably in fourth place in the V8 Championship standings, it is no wonder New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen rates this year’s Bathurst 1000 as his best chance of winning the famous endurance race.
But the word “endurance” in the modern age of Bathurst races has become a hotly debated word.
Ford’s Mark Winterbottom and his co-driver Steve Richards took out last year’s classic in almost six hours 12 minutes, but according to van Gisbergen, there is no taking it easy in the 161-lap race over 1000km.
“It’s not an endurance race because everyone is going flat out the whole time,” van Gisbergen (pictured) told APN.
“Everyone goes as hard as they can every lap – the race has changed and become a lot more competitive than the first time I raced it in 2007.”
Van Gisbergen, who races for Team Tekno VIP Petfoods, rates himself a great chance of breaking his Bathurst duck this year, just like Winterbottom did last year.
That’s because his form in recent rounds of the V8 Championship has been impressive.
He teamed up with Jonathon Webb to finish sixth in the last round – the first of the Enduro Cup series – at the Sandown 500.
That followed two wins at the Sydney 400 in August where he again showed his superior driving skills in wet weather.
“This is probably my best shot at winning a Bathurst,” van Gisbergen said.
“I’m feeling good, and confident I can take on some of the favourites.” The 25-year-old said he was motivated to not only join some racing legends in saluting at Mt Panorama – he knows a good outing will keep him in championship contention.
“It’s a race that’s worth 300 points (he sits just 343 points behind cham- pionship leader Jamie Whincup), so we need to keep pushing hard,” he said.
While he will be focused on doing his best at Bathurst, he also said he was pleased to see another New Zealand team entering the race.
Super Black Racing, which hopes to have a licence to compete in the entire Championship in 2015, has been given a wildcard for the big race and has selected Andre Heimgartner and Ant Pedersen as its drivers.
“I think it’s great, my first start was with Team Kiwi and any New Zealand team coming into this is a good
I’m feeling good, and confident I can take on some of the favourites.”
thing,” van Gisbergen said.
“By the sounds of it, their motto is to get the best drivers who don’t necessarily have the most money.
“If it’s done right it will be a good thing for New Zealand motorsport.”