Commodore driver Shane van Gisbergen will chalk up his 400th race start at Hidden Valley
The Supercars numbers game alive and well at Darwin’s Hidden Valley
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DARWIN’S Hidden Valley will chalk up three milestones when racing finally gets underway in this weekend’s search for the 2020 Bet Easy Triple Crown.
Race 1 on Saturday afternoon will be Red Bull Holden driver Shane van Gisbergen’s 400th race start in the first 38-lap race.
The 23rd staging of the big bangers in Darwin is also a numbers round for Holden’s Nick Percat (100th round) and Garry Jacobson (50th race start).
The Kiwi was less than enthusiastic when asked about his milestone while preparing for his 14th race weekend around the Valley’s 2.9km circuit since 2007.
“I guess it’s a cool number (400) but yeah, I don’t know, I’ve just been lucky,” van Gisbergen told Supercars.com.
“It’s been 10 or 11 years and I still realise how lucky I am to be able to do this full-time and still be in the best team. Racing up the front for so long, it’s awesome.
“But yeah, numbers mean nothing – hopefully I can do it for another 10 years.”
The 2016 series champion is only 31, making him a prime candidate to race into his 40s and join the likes of Craig Lowndes and Garth Tander in the 600 club.
His ZB Commodore is 263 points behind championship leader Scott McLaughlin coming into Darwin, mechanical gremlins pulling him down in the Adelaide races.
Meanwhile, Townsville will join Sydney and Darwin as back-to-back hosts of a Supercars round when the series roadshow heads to the north Queensland city.
It will be Townsville’s first double-header and the first time the fans will get to watch three races over the two days.
The August 29-30 Townsville SuperSprint is locked in and the September 5-6 round will follow six days later.
A maximum 8500 fans will be allowed to attend both weekends, with the proviso that all tickets must be pre-purchased before entry.
COVID-19 regulations mean there will be no concerts, though support categories will be run over both weekends.
This weekend’s Darwin round has capped spectator numbers at 4500 for one 38-lap race on Saturday and two on Sunday afternoon.
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