Besides being a full-time racer himself, Shane van Gisbergen is also a motorsport fan. The driver from Australia, who took NASCAR by storm in 2025, winning five road courses, occasionally sits out to catch up on races. The recently concluded Adelaide Grand Final of the Supercars Championship was no different.

As SVG sat to check up on the final of the event, he was far from impressed with the result. As a racing driver himself, the Trackhouse man called the result “odd.” In a recent interview, he elaborated on why it didn’t sit well with him.

Shane van Gisbergen unimpressed with Supercars final

While fans shared a bittersweet take on the new points format of the finals to crown the champion, it was no different for Shane van Gisbergen. Speaking about this in a recent interview with Speedcafe, here’s what the NASCAR star said:

“I had no real interest in the racing this year. It was harder to watch. The races were always late Saturday night, and I was in bed watching, ready for my races on Sunday, but I found the finals pretty exciting. It was a little hard to follow with the points, but it led up to Adelaide being quite exciting.”

Following this, he added how the final was “odd” for him, and how it left a “bad taste.” With this, SVG also asserted how he was in a melancholic situation after having seen his old team in the final.

“The ending was a bit odd, right? So, it’s also hard for me to be unbiased about it, obviously, because my team, that’s my old team. There’s a lot of my old guys working there, and I’m friends with Broc. But also, I like to think I’m friends with Chaz and also Woody as well. And yeah, seeing that happen, a teammate get involved in it, it kind of leaves a bad taste in your mouth,” SVG added.

Broc Feeney was his teammate at Triple Eight Engineering, who took the lead when SVG left. On the other hand, Chaz Mostert and Ryan Wood (Woody) both drive for Walkinshaw Andretti United, that’s been Triple Eight’s rival for a long time.

For van Gisbergen, though Feeney is friends with him, he couldn’t rule out feeling bad for Chaz or Woody either, as being far away driving in NASCAR has softened those rivalries for him.

The Supercars Championship is an international motorsport competition that takes place in multiple countries. The competition falls under the jurisdiction of the FIA, and it takes place throughout the year in Australia and New Zealand. Earlier, China, Bahrain, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates hosted the event.

This touring car championship is also known as the Repco Supercars Championship, which started in 1997. The race formats vary in distance as the spring races take place between 100 and 200 kilometres (62 and 124 miles). Street races take place between 125 to 250 kilometres (78 and 155 miles).

The series that is broadcast in 137 countries comprises two two-driver endurance races, The Bend 500 and the Bathurst 1000. The Adelaide Grand Final in Adelaide, Australia, is the final round of the championship and is attended by over 285,000 annually.

Chas Mostert of Mobil1 Optus Racing has won the 2025 championship, while Triple Eight Race Engineering took the team’s title. Van Gisbergen, a former driver of the series, was himself a renowned name in this competition.

Meanwhile, apart from Supercars, SVG also shed some light on his current team.

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Shane van Gisbergen wants his #97 legacy

Ahead of the 2026 Cup Series season, Trackhouse Racing managed to provide #97 as Shane van Gisbergen’s car number. SVG, who drove the #88 car in 2025, was extremely emotional when that happened because of what that number means to him.

The number #97 has defined generations of van Gisbergen racers. He and his father, Robert van Gisbergen, both drove it and created a legacy in it. “Mum would have been absolutely proud,” read Robert’s letter to him, as SVG’s mother recently passed away in 2024.

So there’s no doubt that the number is not only psychologically important for him, but also adds to his identity.

Sharing his take on this, SVG mentioned how the number 46 is connected to MotoGP star Valentino Rossi, and the number 24 is connected to Jeff Gordon. Speaking on the same line, here’s what he told Speedcafe.

“So, hopefully, people think of 97 as me. It’s great to have that as my identity. And I guess, it’s been my family race number since I started racing. So, very, very special to have that. It’s been on so many cars that I’ve raced and yeah, amazing. And when you see people with 97 merch, it means a lot to me.”

Shane van Gisbergen will enter the Cup Series next year for Trackhouse Racing under full-time obligation once again. He will be accompanied by Ross Chastain and a new teammate, Connor Zilisch.