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The Supercars return, but can anyone pass SVG?

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As the Supercars return to Melbourne, Shane van Gisbergen has already shot out of the blocks. 

The two-time champion has dominated the Supercars season and currently leads the drivers’ championship by 67 points after only two rounds.

The Kiwi motorsport great won all three races last round at Tasmania’s Symmons Plains – the first to do the treble since Garth Tander in 2005. 

As the race wins continue to add up for van Gisbergen, so too do the records.

Following his victories in Tasmania, van Gisbergen surpassed Scott McLaughlin and Garth Tander’s tallies and sits fourth on the all-time list for ATCC/Supercars race wins.

Van Gisbergen has 58 race wins with only Jamie Whincup (124), Craig Lowndes (110) and Mark Skaife (90) ahead of him on the leader board.

Incredibly, since Bathurst in 2020, van Gisbergen has won 19 of the last 36 races.

Not only is van Gisbergen dominating the Supercars season, but he also recently tried his hand at rally driving and claimed a podium finish at the Netier Capital National Rally. He amazingly finished second outright.

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The motorsport champ will now shift his focus to the Melbourne Grand Prix which promises to present new challenges for drivers after modifications to the track.

After a two-year hiatus, Albert Park track will look different and now features two missing corners, while other corners have been sped up with the track generally faster thanks to the extended back straight.

The changes have been designed to improve racing and encourage overtaking, however not all the drivers are convinced the changes will be positive.

“I don’t know if it’s going to create more passing or less passing,” 18-season Supercars veteran Mark Winterbottom told the Supercars website.

“Turn 13 is wider now which means the braking zone should be a little bit deeper and a bit faster. So again, that might take out a passing spot.”

“The second-to-last corner has got a big, flat, rumble strip on the inside as opposed to a really tight one, so that might be a little bit quicker now and potentially take out a passing spot.”

Whatever challenges the drivers face at Albert Park, one thing is a near certainty – expect to see Shane van Gisbergen flying around the track at the front of the pack in his Red Bull Ampol Racing Holden Commodore.

Picture of Joel Martelli
Joel Martelli
The only thing that Joel Martelli loves more than football (seriously, we wouldn't be surprised if he has a Wollongong Wolves tattoo) is writing about all things sports. With a Bachelor of Communications and Media Studies Degree specialising in Journalism, he spends his days uncovering breaking athlete news stories and diving deep into play-by-play strategies. We're glad that he's put his passion to the pages of Only Sports as one of our dedicated sports writers.

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