Bathurst winner shares ‘last win’

Published 8:00am 27 October 2023

Bathurst 1000 2023 winner Shane van Gisbergen headlined a Trade Night at Village Motors earlier this week in the lead-up to the GC500.

He was joined by Broc Feeney as well as ACDelco drivers Jarrod Hughes and Aaron Borg.

It was a return visit for van Gisbergen and Feeney, who attended the first ever Village Motors’ Trade night last year.

It followed Van Gisbergen’s Bathurst 1000 win with Richie Stanaway, celebrating the event’s 60^th anniversary on October 8.

The win was van Gisbergen’s third ‘Great Race’ victory and his last for a while as he leaves Supercars at the end of this year to take on the NASCAR circuit.

“We were extremely lucky … the gearshift tower in my car was about to break and it broke in the other two cars. It could have been a disastrous day for us,” he told the audience during a Q&A.

“It’s always special to win that race. It took me a long time to be good there and in the last four years it’s been amazing there.

“I’m super stoked. It’s a good way to finish my last Bathurst. Winning Bathurst is the dream. It’s our biggest race we have in this part of the world.”

Sandown 500 winner Feeney did not have a great Bathurst, suffering a gearchange problem while in second place with 25 laps to go.

Feeney said Sandown felt like six months ago but to get the win, with Jamie Whincup, and start his series campaign on a high was ‘awesome’.

“Throughout the race weekend I learnt so much from him. It’s awesome. It’s a shame it’s only for two events.”

Both will race at the GC 500 this weekend, with van Gisbergen keen to try out the street circuit in his new car.

“It’s going to be interesting for sure. It’s one of my favourite racetracks,” he said.

“They’re talking about the weather being a bit dicey maybe Friday and Saturday but we’ll deal with that.”