Jamie Whincup says Triple Eight Race Engineering will give Shane van Gisbergen everything it can to sustain his successful form in Supercars for the long term.
The #97 Red Bull Ampol Racing ZB Commodore has been a cut above the rest the past two Repco Supercars Championship seasons.
Having won last year’s drivers’ championship, van Gisbergen is well on his way to claiming another title with five rounds left this year.
His points advantage, which currently sits at 393, is one thing, but it’s the New Zealander’s unrelenting dominance and race craft that is perhaps the most impressive.
So far this season he has racked up 14 race victories in 23 races to date.
The most recent evidence of that is van Gisbergen’s clean-sweep of all three races at The Bend, a track that historically has favoured Mustang drivers.
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Shell V-Power Racing Team’s Will Davison said following Race 21 that he is refusing to be distracted by the #97’s dominance.
One round earlier van Gisbergen displayed incredible gamesmanship at the finish of the final Townsville race after he was unloaded by Anton De Pasquale in the battle for victory.
This weekend’s Penrite Oil Sandown SuperSprint sees the 33-year-old return to the location of one of his most remarkable weekends.
Despite nursing a broken collarbone from a mountain biking accident, van Gisbergen was in untouchable form at last year’s event and won all three races.
Triple Eight team boss, Whincup, is not surprised by his driver’s form.
Whincup himself knows what it takes to enjoy a long and successful Supercars career as a seven-time champion and is working to afford van Gisbergen the resources he needs to do likewise.
“He’s at the top of his game and he has been for the last couple of years,” Whincup told Speedcafe.com.
“He’s doing a very, very good job; it’s hard to keep that form for a long period of time.
“To sustain that level is very, very difficult.
“We’re just going to give him everything we can, give him as many tools as we can so he can sustain the way he’s driving at the moment for as long as possible.”
Practice 1 for the Supercars Championship at Sandown begins on Friday at 13:10 local time/AEST.
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