How Sandown resilience 'set up' SVG's dominant season

Shane van Gisbergen says his resilient performances at Sandown "set up" his remarkable charge to the 2021 championship.

Van Gisbergen will head into the new year a two-time champion following a 14-win campaign in 2021.

The Red Bull Ampol Racing driver won the first six races of the season, matching a record set by Allan Moffat and Mark Skaife.

Three of those wins came at Sandown, a race meeting held just a fortnight after van Gisbergen suffered a broken collarbone and ribs in a mountain biking accident.

The 32-year-old worked around the clock trying to reach fitness. Even on the Saturday morning before the first Sandown race, it was unclear whether he would take part.

He did, and the rest is history; van Gisbergen remarkably raced from 17th to victory on the Saturday, before winning from pole twice on the Sunday.

Had he detected the broken ribs too, his title bid may have been over before it began.

"Luckily we didn’t know about the ribs, because we wouldn’t have been allowed to race," he said.

"That weekend… I had some good people help me through.

"I drove a BMW production car on the Tuesday [at Queensland Raceway] and I couldn’t drive it without pain, but I didn’t tell anyone that.

"It was getting better every day; when I got to the circuit, I was in pain, but I could handle it.

"That weekend set up the year."

Van Gisbergen spent days in recovery, from physiotherapy to stints in the hyperbaric chamber.

There, he recognised how desperate he was to win another championship.

There, the fire was lit and, despite the pain, van Gisbergen arrived at Sandown a renewed force.

"I felt like I learnt a lot about myself those two weeks," he said of the weeks leading to Sandown.

"I had the shunt and thought it was all over, then dragged myself to the hyperbaric chamber and sat in it for hours.

"I learnt how much it means to me. I did everything possible and didn’t know if I was going to be able to race.

"I learnt how much racing means to me, how much I want to win a championship, and just drove flat out."

Van Gisbergen’s six wins to open the year came at circuit he admitted were strong for his team.

The Kiwi swept the Bathurst and Sandown sprint rounds, before he won the opener at Symmons Plains.

He would go six races without victory after that, before he won five of the next six races across the Darwin and Townsville events.

He arrived in Sydney and won races at three of the four events, the last of which helped him clinch the title when the following race was rained out.

However, for a season now statistically one of the greatest of all time, with wins and standout performances aplenty, van Gisbergen was adamant Sandown was the one that meant the most.

"In the start of the year, we had all the circuits that suited us," he said.

"We sort of struggled at Eastern Creek, where we tend to.

"The whole year was a lot of fun. My favourite one was Sandown because of what I went through.

"How we got through the weekend and got on with the job and made things happen, it was pretty awesome.

"Every round was enjoyable, the atmosphere in the team… it’s what we do it for."

The 13-event 2022 Repco Supercars Championship will commence in Newcastle next year. Tickets for the event are on sale now.

The 13-round draft calendar was released during the Repco Bathurst 1000 weekend.