He’s already proven that he’s a master of anything on four wheels, and now Kiwi great Shane van Gisbergen is set to go one step further.
The reigning Supercars champion has just announced that he will contest the opening round of the Australian Rally Championship, the National Capital Rally in Canberra from April 1 to 3.
Van Gisbergen will drive a Skoda Fabia R5 in the event, with the backing of Red Bull, Harvey Norman, Omen and Hoosier tyres.
The car that van Gisbergen will drive will be run by the Race Torque team out of Western Australia, a squad with rallying success running through its veins.
Race Torque has won several Asia-Pacific Rally Championships with drivers including Chris Atkinson, Gaurav Gill, Pontus Tidemand and Jan Kopecky.
“Rally drivers are the best-of-the-best. You’re driving a car as fast as you can and it’s on gravel, it’s so foreign to me, listening to someone else tell you where to go,” van Gisbergen said.
“It’s an awesome challenge and I want to see if I can adapt and get better and better at it and hopefully have a proper go at it.
“This is a great initiation and we’ve got some pretty cool people on board.
“I’ve always grown up with rally, but it’s nerve-wracking to finally be in the national series in a proper car. I’ve dipped the toe in the water in New Zealand… but to do a Championship round is going to be pretty tough to jump straight in.
“I won’t be doing the whole Championship, but I’ll go and do the first round and have some fun.”
He won the inaugural Jack’s Ridge Rallysprint in 2020 at the wheel of a Mitsubishi Mirage AP4, but that was a short event without a co-driver, and certainly nothing like he’ll face in Canberra.
To guide him through the stages, he’ll use the services of former Australian Rally Champion co-driver, Glen Weston.
He will also hit the simulator with plans to drive as many of the DiRT Rally stages as possible in preparation for what will surely be a baptism of fire.
“I don’t set any goals, I’ll just go there, have fun and as long as I’m prepared as well as I can and the car runs well, I’ll go and drive and things will happen.”
Competing against the factory Toyota Yaris AP4s of Harry and Lewis Bates, that’s a good plan.
Harry Bates hasn’t been beaten since the beginning of 2019 and will pose van Gisbergen’s biggest challenge.
That’s not to say the Supercars star won’t be on the pace, but the roads around the nation’s capital are typically some of the most difficult in the championship to master.
While van Gisbergen won’t be the first touring car star to make the switch to gravel (or vice versa), he’ll be the first of the current batch of drivers.
In past years, both Colin Bond and George Fury were successful on both gravel and tarmac, while another New Zealander, Jim Richards, started his career in rallying, before making the switch to the black stuff.
SVG and Weston will take part in the Championship’s official pre-season test day and season launch in Canberra on March 8, following the Supercars Championship’s opener at Sydney Motorsport Park the weekend prior.
Comments