Kiwis enjoy ‘awesome’ day at Mount

Shane van Gisbergen, along with Kiwi co-driver Richie Stanaway, finished top of the podium in the Repco Bathurst 1000 in what could be the former’s last race at Mount Panorama.

It was van Gisbergen’s third victory in the Great Race in the past four years as the pair became only the second all-New Zealand team to win the event, matching the feat of Greg Murphy and Steven Richards in 1999.

Brodie Kostecki, currently leading the Supercars championship, and team-mate David Russell were favourites going into the race on October 8 but had to settle for second place. Anton De Pasquale and Tony D’Alberto finished third.

The win for Van Gisbergen, who is heading to Nascar in the US next year, has cut Kostecki’s lead in the championship to 131 points.

“What an awesome day,” the Kiwi says. “Richie drove awesome and it’s been so cool to have him a part of the team and a part of this experience this year.

“The team did a fantastic job … It was a pretty special moment for two Kiwis to be on the top step.”

The victory was also Triple Eight’s 10th Bathurst win, surpassing Holden Dealer Team/HDT Racing’s tally of nine Bathurst 500/1000 successes. 

It was a first Bathurst win for Stanaway, who only recently came out of retirement to race again and will move into full-time driving in 2024 with Penrite Racing.

“It was obviously an incredible result today, and I couldn’t have asked for much better,” he explains.

“When I signed the contract to drive with Shane and the team about 11 months ago I knew we’d have a good chance of getting these results, but with such a big tough race like this, you never know – anything can happen. I’m just really happy that we got the win today.”

The Supercars championship returns to action on the streets of Surfers Paradise on October 27-29 with the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500.