Supercars 2023: Shane van Gisbergen involved in big testing crash at Queensland Raceway ahead of endurance season
There was a big scare for defending Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen, who was involved in a big smash in testing at Queensland Raceway today. See the pics.
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Shane van Gisbergen suffered a “driver’s worst nightmare” when brake failure led to a huge crash in testing at Queensland Raceway on Tuesday, shaking his preparations for the Supercars endurance season.
In a frightening moment for the defending Supercars champion, van Gisbergen lost brakes and ran off the track at turn six before spinning and crashing into the barriers.
Van Gisbergen escaped injury in the crash, although team principal Jamie Whincup later said he was feeling a “little sore”.
The impact caused significant damage to the front of his Chevrolet Camaro, but the Triple Eight crew was able repair the car at the track to get it back out for some laps late in the day, allowing van Gisbergen’s co-driver Richie Stanaway with some crucial time behind the wheel.
Triple Eight team manager Mark Dutton said the brake failure had been caused by a fitting coming loose.
“What it looks like has happened is one of the fittings has been knocked on the caliper and then that has subsequently come loose,” Dutton said.
“So Shane, entering turn six, has the driver’s worst nightmare when the pedal goes to the floor, so literally no front brakes.
“He tries to slow it down, does a 360 through the gravel, washing off as much speed as he can and then he managed to put it in perfectly square.
“That’s a big deal because that means the force of the impact is shared equally on the car, so that’s why we have been able to fix it … we actually didn’t think we would be able to get it back out when we saw how deep it was buried in the tyres.”
Whincup said van Gisbergen was fortunate to walk away unhurt after the car went in “fairly hard”.
“The good news is Shane is OK, that is the critical bit,” Whincup said.
“He’s fine, he’s a little sore, but he is certainly fine.”
Van Gisbergen was taking part in a designated test day at the Ipswich circuit with his team and the other Queensland-based Supercars squads ahead of next week’s Sandown 500.
Van Gisbergen is the defending Bathurst 1000 champion and won two of the three races a Sandown last year.
The Kiwi ace is departing Supercars at the end of the year to switch to NASCAR in the United States.
Van Gisbergen sits second in the Supercars standings, 137 points behind series leader Brodie Kostecki.
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Originally published as Supercars 2023: Shane van Gisbergen involved in big testing crash at Queensland Raceway ahead of endurance season
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