Shane van Gisbergen's road to a future in NASCAR has been made clearer. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Will Brown will replace Shane van Gisbergen at Red Bull Ampol Racing from 2024, the team has officially confirmed.
Van Gisbergen has long been linked to a move away from Supercars, and recently revealed his intention to race Stateside in 2024.
The three-time Supercars champion's future was all but sealed when news broke last week of Brown's early release from Erebus Motorsport.
Brown was linked to Triple Eight despite being contracted with Erebus to 2024, with the Queenslander released from his contract late last week.
Formal announcement of Brown's exit saw Triple Eight respond in kind, saying van Gisbergen was contracted until advised otherwise.
Come Wednesday, and van Gisbergen's road to a future in NASCAR has been made clearer with Brown secured at Triple Eight.
Toowoomba-born driver Brown joins Triple Eight on a three-year deal, which runs to the end of 2006.
Van Gisbergen and Brown are fighting for the 2023 title alongside Broc Feeney and Brodie Kostecki, who leads the points heading to the OTR SuperSprint.
The two drivers have already clashed this season, with van Gisbergen penalised over a last-lap bump-and-run on Brown in Sydney last month.
"Triple Eight Race Engineering is thrilled to announce the signing of Will Brown who will join Red Bull Ampol Racing from 2024 on a three-year deal," a Triple Eight statement reads.
"The 25-year-old is a proven race winner and one of the category's most exciting talents, and the team look forward to celebrating this exciting new partnership in January 2024.
"The announcement comes as the team has agreed to allow Shane 'SVG' van Gisbergen to explore his dreams to race in overseas categories in 2024 and beyond.
Since debuting as a teenager, van Gisbergen has won three championships, 79 races and two Bathurst 1000s. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
"In the meantime, the team's full focus is on our 2023 Championship assault."
The news brings an end to one of the most decorated chapters in Supercars, with van Gisbergen debuting as a teenager in 2007.
In 16 years in the main game, van Gisbergen has won three championships, 79 races and two Bathurst 1000s, along with 48 pole positions.
The Auckland joined the series as a fresh-faced teen with Team Kiwi Racing mid-2007, before joining Stone Brothers Racing in 2008.
He won two races for SBR in 2011 before an acrimonious split at the end of 2012 and a quasi retirement, before a sensational return in 2013 with Tekno Autosports.
Van Gisbergen was a consistent front-runner with Tekno between 2013 and 2015 before he cemented his status with Triple Eight with a first-up title in 2016.
Between 2016 and 2023, the van Gisbergen-Triple Eight partnership has been a force in Supercars.
Van Gisbergen beat highly-fancied teammate Jamie Whincup in all but one season (2017) of their six seasons as teammates before Feeney joined in 2022.
Brown debuted in the main game with Erebus as a co-driver in 2018, and rose to the full-time ranks in 2021 alongside Kostecki.
In the statement, Triple Eight boss Whincup reiterated that the team "wholeheartedly supports" van Gisbergen's NASCAR dream, and is excited to welcome Brown to the fold.
It comes after van Gisbergen's stunning debut NASCAR win in Chicago in July, which fast-tracked the 34-year-old's pathway to the US.
"We look forward to watching him continue to tear up the track like we witnessed in Chicago last month," Whincup said.
"Will has been on our radar for many years since he was driving an ex-Triple Eight car in the Super2 championship.
"He is exciting to watch on track, very personable and most importantly, a really good fit to our Triple Eight culture. The fact Broc and him grew up racing together and are friends away from the circuit is a bonus.
"Of course, we still have a fight on our hands to win the Drivers' and Teams' Championships this season, and that remains Triple Eight's immediate focus."
Van Gisbergen and Brown will continue their chase of the 2023 championship at this weekend's OTR SuperSprint.
