Shane van Gisbergen has signalled his intent to have a go in the Australian Rally Championship later this year.
Van Gisbergen starred on his rallying debut last year when he claimed a class win in the Auckland City of Rally before clinching a surprise overall victory in the inaugural Battle of Jack’s Ridge.
The win marked the beginning of van Gisbergen’s summer of New Zealand domination, highlighted by a freakish recovery drive to win the New Zealand Grand Prix after starting in the pitlane.
Now, van Gisbergen is eyeing a start on the Australian rallying scene.
He alluded to Triple Eight stakeholder Tony Quinn who is competing in this weekend’s round of the ARC in Queensland.
Van Gisbergen will be watching the event from the sidelines.
“[The ARC] is something I’ve followed snippets of the last few years, and now Tony Quinn as well, our team owner, is racing in it so it’s cool to watch,” Van Gisbergen said.
“Seeing [the ARC] grow and get bigger, and the drivers up the front when you watch the onboards and the stage times and see how quick those guys are and how hard they’re pushing, it’s pretty impressive, that’s for sure.
“I’d love to have a go and have a play and maybe do something in the future. But, I would love to do something here and have some fun in a car.”
Seeing van Gisbergen have a go in the ARC has the support of Motorsport Australia’s director of motorsport and commercial operations, Michael Smith.
“To have a driver of Shane’s calibre trying to find an opportunity to compete in the RSEA Safety Motorsport Australia Rally Championship is certainly an exciting prospect for fans and competitors alike,” said Smith.
“We’re quite hopeful we’ll see Shane at an ARC event later this year and I’m sure he will have the rally bug after attending the Accent Benchtops Rally Queensland in Gympie this weekend.”
Van Gisbergen is currently leading this year’s Supercars championship by 190 points over teammate Jamie Whincup.
His next gig in the driver’s seat will be the Winton SuperSprint over May 28-30.