Kiwi ace Shane Van Gisbergen extends contract with Red Bull Holden Racing Team

  • 01/11/2017
Shane Van Gisbergen won his first supercars title with Red Bull in 2016
Shane Van Gisbergen won his first supercars title with Red Bull in 2016 Photo credit: Getty

New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen has extended his contract to stay with the Red Bull Holden Racing Team for an additional year, which will see the reigning Supercars champion remain with the squad until at least the end of the 2019 season.

'Giz'  joined Triple Eight Race Engineering, which competes under the Red Bull Holden Racing Team banner in the Supercars Championship, at the beginning of 2016 and went on to win the title in his debut year with the team.

"I'm really happy to be staying with the Red Bull Holden Racing Team for another year," said van Gisbergen.

"The first two seasons have been great, especially with the championship win last year.

"I definitely feel I've come on a lot over the last couple of years and Triple Eight is a great place to be.

"I've got an awesome team around me and I’m enjoying racing more than ever, so it made sense to keep that going.

"With the Next-Gen Commodore coming next year and the V6 twin-turbo engine in 2019, it’s a really exciting time to be part of the factory Holden team."

Shane Van Gisbergen (left) doing battle with teammate Jamie Whincup at Bathurst last month
Shane Van Gisbergen (left) doing battle with teammate Jamie Whincup at Bathurst last month Photo credit: Getty

Van Gisbergen made his Supercars debut in 2007, going on to claim his first race win in 2011. He now has 23 championship race wins to his name, as well as 19 pole positions and 75 podium finishes.

Triple Eight Managing Director Roland Dane is thrilled to extend the strong relationship with the 28-year-old driver who has added competitive depth to the team.

"Shane has developed enormously since joining Triple Eight at the beginning of 2016 and we’re looking forward to seeing what we will achieve together in the years to come.

"We never had a moment of hesitation in extending our contract with Shane, he has proved his ability both on and off the track and he settled in to the Triple Eight way of life very quickly."

With four race wins this year, van Gisbergen is currently placed fifth in the overall championship standings, just 189 points behind leader and fellow Red Bull Holden Racing teammate Jamie Whincup.

Hailing from the south of Auckland, Van Gisbergen will this week race in front of a home crowd as the championship heads across the water for the penultimate round at the ITM Auckland SuperSprint at Pukekohe Park Raceway.

Newshub.