Van Gisbergen to go round The Bend

Fresh after claiming his second race win for 2019 in the Virgin Australian Supercars Championship, Shane van Gisbergen will switch his Holden Commodore for the Trofeo Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3 for this weekend’s Shannons Nationals.

The New Zealander will be partnering up with GT journeyman Liam Talbot for the second round of the CAMS Australian Endurance Championship at The Bend Motorsport Park as part of the Shannons Nationals’ third round.

While it won’t the first time van Gisbergen has taken part in the championship, the 30-year-old enjoying recent stints alongside Tony Quinn in his Aston Martin, it will be the first time he competes in the Italian made Huracan.

The 2018 Supercars runner-up also has a wealth of experience behind the wheel of a GT3 car, competing in a McLaren at both a local and international level, making him a driver to offer a serious challenge in the race.

van Gisbergen’s arrival to the round makes it three Red Bull Holden Racing team drivers part of the field for this weekend, joining teammates Jamie Whincup and Garth Tander.

Both Tander and Whincup already competed in the category’s first round last month, with the former enjoying success alongside 2017 and 2018 CAMS Australian GT Championship winner Geoff Emery, while technical issues to Whincup and Yasser Shahin saw the duo bow out of contention.

Following the announcement of the Kiwi’s confirmation, CAMS Australian GT Category Manager David Vervaart was thrilled to have a driver of van Gisbergen’s calibre join the championship.

“Every time Shane gets behind the wheel of a GT3 car it’s exciting,” Vervaart said.

“Whether it’s Australia, Europe or the USA he’s always competitive and he likes to run at the front, so I think those teams that featured strongly at Phillip Island will need to keep a close eye on the menacing black Lamborghini.”

Despite van Gisbergen being a marquee signing for the championship, his co-driver Talbot has also had impressed in Australian motor sport, which includes a solid run of form in the 2019 Porsche PAYCE Carrera Cup Australia series.

The CAMS Australian Endurance Championship will have multiple practice sessions on Friday and Saturday, before qualifying later Saturday morning sets up the three-hour race that afternoon.

Tickets for the Shannons Nationals’ visit to The Bend Motorsport are now on sale and can be purchased here, while fans can watch all the CAMS Australian Endurance Championship action live and free through the live stream on speedseries.com.au.