The New Zealander, who continues to be a championship dark horse with 1111 points and sixth in the drivers' standings after six events, is happy with his season so far – and believes that his VIP Petfoods Commodore is again headed for the podium at this weekend’s Townsville 500.
It couldn’t happen at a better time, with the Lucas Oil-powered TEKNO team proudly celebrating its 50th V8 Supercars event start there. TEKNO, based in Stapylton, a suburb of Brisbane, made its debut back in 2011 at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit – with star driver Van Gisbergen joining last year, and taking two victories (Adelaide and Sydney) in that season.
The New Zealander has since become a potent force with the TEKNO – taking all of the team’s championship race wins, including this year in Auckland, as well as three wins at the non-championship Australian Grand Prix.
Van Gisbergen has form in Townsville around the 2.86-km (1.14mi ) Reid Park circuit having scored a pole position on Saturday and strong drive to third place on Sunday last year in his Lucas Oil-powered VIP Petfoods Commodore.
The event, which has been run since 2009, will follow the SuperStreet format – with three races for the first time. There will be two 125km races on Saturday, and a 200km feature on Sunday.
The event will be run exclusively on the hard tyres.
Shane van Gisbergen, #97 VIP Petfoods/Lucas Oil Holden VF Commodore:
“I’m sure we can be competitive in Townsville, and if we can get on the podium on both days that would be really cool. We had a fast car at Reid Park last year with pole on Saturday, and on Sunday we came back to third. “We’ve got the car that can do the job. We just have to make sure it’s prepared well and make sure we nail the new format. “It’s definitely a track and event I enjoy. It’s a reasonably new event, and it’s a pretty live little town on that weekend that makes it fun to be at."
