Shane van Gisbergen Makes Winning Look Easy

Shane van Gisbergen – known universally as SVG – is a racing icon. 3 Bathurst 1000 wins. 80 Supercars wins – 16% of his starts. A jump to NASCAR in the USA, where he won his very first NASCAR race and is now the winningest rookie. There are lots more records, but you get the picture.

The three-time Supercars champion from Auckland made a jump to the competition with Trackhouse Racing. Trackhouse builds a great car, yet SVG is the one making it happen on track. His central drive is that he loves it: “I love what I do,” Shane says with a grin. “I get to race cars for a living”.

That passion started in New Zealand. His father Robert introduced Shane to dirt and gravel tracks. Western Springs speedway and tarmac contests at Pukekohe soon followed. Other kids had football; Shane’s weekend sport was racing.

“We raced for fun, Dad and I” Shane explains. “We loved going racing”.

NASCAR is relentless. Cup drivers contest 36 championship events, but Shane packs his weekends with extra starts in the Truck Series and other secondary events. Seat time builds muscle memory whatever you are piloting, and Shane notes that the heavy trucks replicate the chassis balance of his premier Cup Chevrolet. “We get to drive some cool cars and get more track time. For me, it is all more experience gained and more racing”.

While he plays easygoing, his driving style indicates rigorous preparation and understanding with an innate connection to the machine. He understands data and telemetry, yet inside the cockpit, instinct rules. During oval competition, he communicates over team radio in a detached and cheeky style – cracking jokes and “taking the piss” in his own words.

American car racing is a full-on lifestyle, and there are plenty of media duties included. Cameras track his movements, yet he greets reporters with a relaxed smile. “It is part of the sport,” he says. “People love seeing you and hearing from you”.

Away from the public eye, he enjoys classic machinery.

“I bought a ninety-four Celica, the rally version, the illegal one” Shane smiles. “I have a collection of mid-nineties rally car road versions, and a few eighties. One is Italian, a Lancia”. But those hobbies have to wait because he’s a busy man.

My favourite stat is that he has many more wins than pole positions. This man is more than fast, he’s a real racer who is now on the biggest American stage, through talent. Oh, and he’s smiling all the way.

SVG is not happy because he is successful. No, he is successful because he’s happy.