Shane van Gisbergen takes his first Speedway race win
Giltrap Group supported driver and 66 Magazine cover star, Shane van Gisbergen, has claimed his maiden victory in a speedway race.
Jan 26, 2023
The Supercars ace drove speedway as a kid, so the discipline is close to his heart.
Three time Supercars champion and Giltrap Group supported driver, Shane van Gisbergen has driven to victory and secured his first Speedway win during racing at Palmerston North on Saturday.
SVG has made a name for himself as a driver keen to experience different motorsport disciplines and having started racing speedway as a child to gain some car craft, speedway remains a code he’s passionate about.
And true to every driving discipline he attempts the Kiwi didn’t embarrass himself against seasoned competitors finishing first in Heat 1, third in Heat 2, and first in the feature race.
The event was the final appearance for the season before Shane heads again across the ditch to contest the 2023 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour on February 3-5, where he will drive a Mercedes-AMG alongside Triple Eight Engineering team-mate Broc Feeney and factory driver Maximillian Gotz. And then focus will shift to Supercars and the all-new Gen 3 cars the series is introducing this season.
But for now it’s champaign time as van Gisbergen celebrates another impressive victory in a new driving discipline.
“Woohoo! Got our first win last night!,Great way to finish off the speedway season for me. “Thanks a lot to Brian [Theobald], Shaun [Insley] and the United Truck Parts team for giving me a crack at it. A lot of fun, hope to have another go next season!” Said van Gisbergen
The progress Shane has made since entering his first adult Speedway event during his time off at Western Springs Speedway in December shows the calibre of his talent. In just a few short events he has progressed from 11th in Heat 2, fifth in Heat 3 and 14th in the feature to race winning results.
Van Gisbergen has enjoyed learning the techniques of driving a sprint car over the summer.
“[It’s] been an adventure learning new skills trying to hang onto this animal of a race car, but I’m loving it,” he said.
You can watch SVG content Bathurst again in the 2023 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour on February 3-5 and the Supercars championship kicks off with the Thrifty Newcastle 500 on March 10-12.