Shane van Gisbergen says he is excited, rather than sad, to see his career as a Supercars full-timer drew to a close.
The three-time series champion made his final start in Supercars today ahead of his move to the United States and a career in the NASCAR system.
There was no Hollywood send-off, though, with van Gisbergen missing out on the drivers’ title with two miserable races in Adelaide.
On Saturday his title hopes were dashed on the opening lap of the race when he clattered into Will Brown’s crashed car at Turn 4.
He then struggled with braking issues in his Red Bull Camaro on Sunday and failed to finish the race.
While disappointed with the weekend, there was no sadness for van Gisbergen to see his 17-year Supercars career come to a close.
Instead he says he is focused on the next chapter and excited about his future abroad.
“It’s been coming for a few months,” van Gisbergen told Speedcafe.”And this year, it’s been well documented, has been pretty shit for everyone.
“So I don’t don’t feel sad, weirdly. I feel more excited to go and do something different and drive a nice car.
“It’s been a gradual thing over the last few weeks. I had a send-off party with my mates last week and we had our derby race, and I knew it would be my last time in New Zealand for a while.
“It’s good that it’s been a gradual thing and I’ve known it’s been coming for a while. I did just want to go out with two good results, that was my main plan.
“But as I said, I’m not real sad about it. It’s more exciting.”
Elaborating on today’s DNF, van Gisbergen admitted he was gutted to not see the finish.
“Obviously I was gutted during the race,” he said. “I had a big push at the start and was making some big moves.
“And then yeah, it went a bit weird before the pitstop and then when I drove out just felt like wheel was about to fall off.
“Then we pitted, it was a bit awkward with Broc, and then yeah, the next set of tyres was the same. We changed dampers, it still felt funny. Yeah, it’s a shame.
“It would have been good to at least just finish the race. It’s been tough, but it’s easy to forget this and remember the last few years have been pretty good with these guys.”
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