Van Gisbergen racing a Brabham BT62 at the Highlands 6-Hour

Kiwi motorsport legend Shane van Gisbergen is the first big name to be confirmed for the 6 Hours of Endurance Race in the Highlands in November.

The Supercars champion, who heads to the US next year after successfully testing for NASCAR with a win on his debut, revealed in a social media post that he will drive a Carters Brabham BT62 in the 10th anniversary event at the Cromwell Circuit. He will team up with regular driver Dwayne Carter.

“We are delighted to confirm this,” said Josie Spillane, CEO of Arenas and Events. “Shane has been a tremendous supporter and competitor in Highlands events since we opened in 2013. We are thrilled to be back racing at Highlands and in the first ever six-hour endurance race.”

Van Gisbergen is a friend of the Carter family, and he and Dwayne have raced and won together before in team cars. They also raced together last weekend in the first round of the South Island Endurance Championship in Ruapuna.

He said: “I am excited to race at Highlands this year, as it is one of my favorite tracks in the world.” “To do it at Brabham is also great, thanks so much to Dwayne, Gary and the team for the opportunity. I was part of the first big event at the Highlands and I’m really looking forward to being part of its 10th anniversary and I hope to have a lot of fun at one of the best tracks Racing in the world.

Owner Gary Carter says it’s an exciting combination of car and driver, and the family-run team is looking forward to being a big part of the annual Highlands Weekend, confident it can put a challenging weekend in Christchurch behind it.

“The weekend didn’t go as we wanted, but we have engineers coming from Australia to make sure the car will be fully reliable by the time of the event in November.

“Our primary focus has always been and continues to be on the hill event. We are excited to have Shane in the team and intend to give it our all and have a great weekend of racing. We are all very excited and looking forward to the weekend very much.

Van Gisbergen is considered one of the best racing drivers in the world today, attracting attention in the world of motorsport not only for his speed but also for his incredible versatility, harking back to New Zealand drivers from other eras who regularly demonstrated their skills in multiple motorsport championships. and contradictory events.

Of course, Shane has successfully competed in Supercars and GT racing, winning the New Zealand Grand Prix in a single-seater appearance in 2021, and winning in his first appearance in NASCAR. He’s also won rallies and competed in Sprint Cars recently as well.

“The fans are loving the variety and his obvious huge talent behind the wheel, and I’m sure there will be plenty of fans coming to watch Shane in action, and I have no doubt that confirming his participation has just raised already high expectations for the event,” Spillane added: “While we’re counting Counting down to November 5th.

“It will be one of the last opportunities to see him race this type of car in New Zealand for a while, and to see him driving a Brabham around the Highlands will be very special.

“Shane has a great relationship with a lot of our team members who have also joined, such as Dan Gaunt, Andrew White, Damon Leach, TQ and Paul Blomqvist, so the battle within the team will be quite entertaining and there are a lot of players.” The banter actually happens. The camaraderie in the paddock this weekend will be very special and it’s great that our Highlands fans will be able to get close to it.

An invitational field of up to 32 GT3, GT4 and Open Class cars will compete in what will be one of the toughest endurance races ever seen in New Zealand. Each car is allowed to have two or three drivers but must be a mix of professional and amateur racing drivers. This will be the largest and longest GT endurance event ever held at the track or in New Zealand.

The event will also use a performance balancing mechanism based on that used globally for GT3 racing but will be modified to take into account the wider range of high-performance race cars that will compete.

As an entry in the exciting 6 Hours of Highlands Open class, the Brabham will be subject to performance balance criteria to ensure that its overall performance is in line with the other cars in the race and that success will depend on strategy and driving skill.