Supercars 2023: Shane van Gisbergen signs new Red Bull deal and slams ‘stupidest’ move

The wait is finally over. After months of speculation, Shane van Gisbergen has finally committed to a new Supercars contract but there’s one thing he’s fairly unhappy about.

Red Bull fans can finally take a breath – he’s not going anywhere.

The top team in Supercars has re-signed the category’s best driver, ending months of speculation around the future of three-time champion, Shane van Gisbergen.

After hinting late last year that he would wait to re-sign with the team until he had made up his mind on the Gen3 Supercars experience, van Gisbergen told News Corp it was a painless decision to ink a fresh multi-year deal with Triple Eight Race Engineering.

“We’ve always been on the same page with it and it’s normally a pretty easy decision to stay with Triple Eight – it’s the best team, after all,” he said.

“It wasn’t really affecting me in any way. I wasn’t really stressed about it or anything, but for sure it’s nice to lock it away.”

Fresh from a historic 2022 campaign in which he broke Scott McLaughlin’s record for most race wins in a single season, van Gisbergen no doubt had suitors lining up around the block to snag his signature – and not just in Supercars.

But having helped build a new-look Triple Eight family into a familiar force within the paddock, the 33 year old says he “never gets sick” of facing fresh challenges with his team.

“I just love being part of this team and especially the past couple of years with how we’ve gone, the people I’ve gotten to work with and what we have achieved,” he said.

“This year with the car change adds even more challenges.

Shane van Gisbergen has ended months of speculation

“It’s cool pushing along, learning things with a group of people and a solid team around you, trying to make things better. Those challenges of our sport – it’s always evolving – and to me, that’s what I enjoy.”

When it came time to put pen to paper, van Gisbergen revealed some key advice from team boss Jamie Whincup helped put things into perspective.

“He’s been through all this stuff before and for someone like him, who has won six or seven championships, how he kept himself motivated and kept focused, I do lean on him for advice in those situations and our contract chat was more about that stuff than the contract itself,” the Kiwi revealed.

“It’s pretty cool that we can have that relationship after being teammates for years and even though he’s now my boss, he’s still happy to be a friend as well.”

NEW CHALLENGES

Van Gisbergen revealed last season – despite the overwhelming success for he and the team – was steep learning curve for all involved, given it was Whincup’s first year out of a race seat.

With a fresh rookie teammate in Broc Feeney alongside him, there was a lot that could have gone wrong for Triple Eight. Instead, the team functioned to its traditional high standards, and van Gisbergen wants to set the bar even higher in 2023.

“Last year we went through quite a transition. Jamie was finding his feet and everyone else finding where they were in the team – it was great, but there was definitely a sense of change,” he said.

“Throughout that year and into this year, it’s gotten so much better.

“Working with Broc, he’s always open and honest as well. He listens to all the advice, but now he’s getting faster as well, the information is coming back the other way which is great.

“You need a teammate that can push you and also give good information, because it helps us all – especially when we’re developing this new car and trying to get quicker.

“We’ve got to work together to beat everyone else before we focus on fighting ourselves, so having a good relationship like that has certainly helped.

Shane van Gisbergen has enjoyed enormous success in Supercars

“It’s a good environment. He’s an awesome young kid with a good family and great talent, so I think we’re going quite well working together.”

Building a faster car is high on van Gisbergen’s agenda given how competitive this season is shaping up to be in the first year of the Gen3 era.

But it’s just another challenge he’s eager to tackle head-on.

“There’s some new guys this year that are flying, so it’s going to be tough all year I think,” he said.

“Some teams have really stepped up – it’s always great racing against new people and seeing some new faces up there (at the top of the grid), and I think that’s good for the sport too.

“You never know who you’ll be racing on any given weekend at the moment, there’s so many fast cars.”

MAKE THE CHANGE

Speaking from New Zealand, where he was back home getting some minutes behind the wheel of his Audi AP4 ahead of the NZ Rally Championship round in May, van Gisbergen declared he was “happy to stay” in Supercars but as of 2023, it lacked an important feature.

“Supercars need to sort itself out and get us back to New Zealand. I think it’s the stupidest decision that we’re not here,” he said, in reference to no NZ round on the calendar following last season’s farewell to Pukekohe.

“As we saw at Pukekohe last year, there’s so many awesome fans in New Zealand and the sort is still so big here. We need to get back here in a big way, and I would love to race back home some more, so let’s make that happen.

“I think there’s three of us Kiwis (in Supercars) now and the support that we get is amazing. We certainly miss (racing at home) but I also think the series loved coming here – it was one of the better events on the calendar, so hopefully it can happen. We have to keep pushing for it.”