Shane van Gisbergen will drive in the Daybreaker Rally in New Zealand on September 22-23, 2023.
The New Zealander, who makes his oval NASCAR debut in the Truck Series this week ahead of a return to the NASCAR Cup Series, will compete in the same Dylan Turner-owned Audi S1 AP4 rally car that he ran the International Rally of Whangarei.
“I’m looking forward to my next round of the NZRC,” the Red Bull Ampol Racing Supercars driver said.
“We had a tough time at Whangarei with some issues but a lot of work has been done to make sure we are ready to go for the Daybreaker. We did a test event a couple of weeks ago and the car was feeling great.
The Daybreaker, first held in 1983, returns as fourth of the now five round Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship (NZRC).
It adds to the calendar after the Hawkes Bay and September’s Coromandel rounds were cancelled due to flood damage.
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Van Gisbergen announced earlier this year that he would compete in four NZRC rounds in 2023, with his first entry at Whangarei the second round of the season.
“From history the Daybreaker was always an awesome event and it’s great that it’s back on the calendar this year, I can’t wait.”
A ceremonial start will take place in Fielding on the Friday night, before competitors take on the roads of the Manawatu and Rangitikei districts.
Van Gisbergen has considerable success in rallying in 2022, winning the Far North Rally in a Supercheap Auto-backed Skoda Fabia, ahead of Turner in the Audi he’s since raced at Whangarei, while finishing second in his Australian Rally Championship debut in Canberra.
He also scored World Rally Championship points with a podium in his first start in a WRC2 Skoda at Rally New Zealand a week before winning his second Bathurst 1000.
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