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Rowan Shepherd has clinched a Triple Eight Supercar test after winning this season’s New Zealand Toyota 86 Championship title.
The test, in one of the VF Commodores which Triple Eight Race Engineering current fields in the Dunlop Super2 Series, has been put up by the foundation of the team’s largest shareholder, Tony Quinn.
Shepherd became a back-to-back 86 title winner despite battling severe food poisoning on the final day of the campaign at Hampton Downs, although it was a close-run thing.
He started the final race needing only to finish ninth if title rival Simon Evans was to take victory in that encounter, which would indeed be the case.
Shepherd slipped back from a front row start on the damp track, but eventually reached the chequered flag in seventh position.
Up the road, Evans was hounded by Hugo Allan, the top rookie in the competition, but won the 16-lap contest by a matter of metres.
Shepherd will test the Triple Eight Holden on Wednesday, June 22 at Queensland Raceway, days after the Merlin Darwin Triple Crown.
The Banyo outfit, as Red Bull Ampol Racing, currently holds top spot in both the Repco Supercars Championship’s drivers’ and teams’ standings.
Shane van Gisbergen is first on the table, with six race wins out of nine in the year to date, while rookie team-mate Broc Feeney holds sixth spot.
The Supercars Championship and Dunlop Super2 Series seasons resume next weekend with the Bunnings Trade Perth SuperNight, at Wanneroo Raceway.
