Incredible run for ‘The Giz’

Shane van Gisbergen has become the second driver in history to win the Bathurst Triple Crown by taking victory in last weekend’s Bathurst 6 Hour in a BMW M4.

The Kiwi teamed up with Shane Smollen and Rob Rubis to win the production car classic (right), despite copping a five-second penalty for a restart breach midway through the race. That proved to be little trouble for van Gisbergen, who helped his car to a whopping 12s margin by the chequered flag. The victory comes after his Bathurst 12 Hour win in 2016 and his Bathurst 1000 triumph last year.

The other Triple Crown winner is Paul Morris, who won the Bathurst 12 Hour when it was still a production car race in 2007, followed by the Bathurst 1000 in 2014 (he also finished first on the road in that race in 1997, only to be excluded) and the Bathurst 6 Hour in 2017.

Van Gisbergen’s latest win adds to a stunning streak of success that goes back to the end of last season. He is unbeaten in Supercars since last October’s Bathurst 1000 season finale, and has scooped all five race wins so far in 2021. He also won all three races, including the New Zealand Grand Prix climax, as a wildcard entrant in the opening round of the Toyota Racing Series on a return to single-seaters.

Added to that, he performed double duty last weekend to take victory at Bathurst in the first race of the GT World Challenge Australia double-header at the wheel of a Mercedes-amg GT3 shared with Malaysian prince Jeffri Ibrahim. Van Gisbergen (right) led throughout the opening stint of race two, only for Ibrahim to be denied honours on the final lap by a lunge at Forrest Elbow from Yasser Shahin, who shared his Audi R8 LMS with Garth Tander. That second place is his worst result since he finished fifth in a Supercars race at The Bend – a track owned by Shahin’s family – last September.

Remarkably, 2016 Blancpain Endurance Series champion van Gisbergen has won three Supercars races, the GT race and the 6 Hour while recovering from a broken collarbone and three broken ribs sustained in a cycling shunt. “I’ll be sore tomorrow but it’s well worth it,” he said.