Bathurst 1000 race winners Shane van Gisbergen (L) Richie Stanaway. Photo: Photosport
New Zealand's Shane van Gisbergen will bow out of Supercars as a three-time Bathurst 1000 champion after becoming the first driver in 15 years to secure consecutive wins at Mount Panorama.
The defending Supercars champion backed up his Bathurst triumph with Garth Tander last year, combining with Richie Stanaway to be the first all-New Zealand pair since Greg Murphy and Steven Richards in 1999 to win the great race.
Starting from sixth on the grid on Sunday, van Gisbergen and Stanaway tore away to upstage Brodie Kostecki and clinch victory over the red-hot favourite by almost 20 seconds.
Kostecki, the championship leader, started from pole after a record-breaking shootout win, but van Gisbergen's experience and class won out in the 161-lap marathon, witnessed by the third biggest crowd in Bathurst history.
The victory was the first consecutive victory at Bathurst since Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes claimed a third straight crown together in 2008.
"Amazing," van Gisbergen said post-race.
"We weren't the fastest car all week, but we worked on the race car."
Co-driver Stanaway, who walked away from Supercars only to return to co-pilot van Gisbergen this season ahead of rejoining the circuit next season full time, said it was an unbelievable feeling.
"I knew I had a good shot but you never know at this place," he said.
"I couldn't be happier."
Ford's fears of more Chevrolet dominance were proved correct as Triple Eight young gun Broc Feeney appeared destined to join van Gisbergen and Kostecki for an all-Camaro podium.
But Feeney was left heartbroken and in tears after experiencing gearbox issues on lap-137 when the 20-year-old and Whincup were placed second.
Shane van Gisbergen at Bathurst. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Van Gisbergen's 80th career win, and fifth of the season, keeps him well in contention to claim a third-straight Supercars title.
It has been an era of dominance from van Gisbergen, who has won three of the past four Bathurst 1000s after first triumphing during the COVID-effected 2020 season.
The 34-year-old will head to the United States at season's end to drive full-time in NASCAR, after scoring a stunning win on debut in Chicago in July.
"I'm really gunna miss it," van Gisbergen said in victory lane after the race.
"I love this place. I'll be back.
"For now, this is the perfect way to say goodbye."
Bathurst race winner Shane van Gisbergen. Photo: Photosport
In the first Bathurst of the Gen3, post-Commodore era, van Gisbergen's victory made it 21 of 24 wins to Camaro this season, with no Ford car saluting in multiple races.
Van Gisbergen's win was salt into the wounds of Ford teams, who were left fuming after Supercars rejected technical adjustments to the Mustangs just days before Australia's most famous motor race.
Stanaway, who will move into full-time driving in 2024 with Penrite Racing, scored his first Bathurst win.
This story was first published by ABC