Shane van Gisbergen to make shock Aussie Racing Cars start

Shane van Gisbergen is a surprise inclusion in the field for the Battery World Aussie Racing Cars Super Series season finale at Highlands Motorsport Park next month.

The Tony Quinn-owned series is off to Highlands to race at the 10th anniversary meeting of the Quinn-owned track, on New Zealand’s South Island.

Van Gisbergen was already committed to the headline act, the Highlands 6 Hour for GT3s and the like, in which he will drive a Brabham BT62.

Now, he has added a debut appearance in the pint-sized Aussie Racing Cars.

He will get behind the wheel of a second Norganic Proteins-supported entry owned by Kent Quinn, who is aiming to seal the Masters Cup title.

Joel Heinrich is vying for Championship class honours and needs to finish seventh or better for the round to clinch the crown, with his nearest rivals being Josh Anderson and Reece Chapman.

2014 Aussie Racing Cars series winner Darren Chamberlin, stepfather of Anderson, has returned to the field for the weekend.

In the Gold Cup, Sheridan Phillips holds a 15-point lead over Jeff Waters, while Nathan Williams is just eight ahead of Brandon Madden in the Rookie Cup, with 25 points available at Highlands.

All cars and equipment arrived in Port Chalmers near Dunedin on October 19, and is set to reach Highlands Motorsport Park this week, when quarantine and customs procedures will take place.

The final round of the Aussie Racing Cars Super Series will be comprised of four races at the November 3-5 event.

The event will be television, in New Zealand on Sky from 12:45-18:00 on Saturday and 08:45-17:30 on Sunday, and in Australia on Fox Sports from 09:30-15:00 AEDT on Saturday and 07:30-14:30 on Sunday.

SCHEDULE

Friday, November 3

Practice 1             10:05am (NZDT) 8:05am (AEDT)
Practice 2             1:30pm (NZDT) 11:30am (AEDT)
Qualifying            4:20pm (NZDT) 2:20pm (AEDT)

Saturday, November 4

Race 1                   9:40am (NZDT) 7:40am (AEDT)
Race 2                   1:05pm (NZDT) 11:05am (AEDT)
Race 3                   3:00pm (NZDT) 1:00pm (AEDT)

Sunday, November 5

Race 4                   8:50am (NZDT) 6:15am (AEDT)

Entry list

No.	Class	Driver	State	Team	Model
1	Championship	Josh Anderson	NSW	CoolDrive/Perenso Racing	Mustang
3	Rookie Cup	Steve Jakic	QLD	Black Diamond Building and Construction	Euro GT
4	Gold Cup	Brendon Tucker	QLD	Variety Motorsport	Camaro
6	Gold Cup	Ian Chivas	NSW	Chivas Motorsport	Altima
7	Masters Cup	Andrew Lorgelly	VIC	Muscle Motor Trimmers	Euro GT
13	Rookie Cup	Scott Gore	QLD	ASAP Marketing	Mustang
16	Championship	Joel Heinrich	SA	Osborn’s Transport	Mustang
18	Championship	Cody Brewczynski	NSW	Shell Rimula Topgun Race Team	Mustang
19	Gold Cup	Sheridan Phillips	NSW	Phillips & Co Automotive	Camaro
20	Rookie Cup	Scott Andriske	QLD	Harveys Towing/TFH Temporary Fence Hire	Camaro
23	Rookie Cup	Scott Dornan	QLD	Action Line Marking	Camaro
25	Championship	Reece Chapman	NSW	CoolDrive/Motorsport25	Mustang
28	Masters Cup	Kent Quinn	QLD	Norganic Proteins	Mustang
36	Championship	Darren Chamberlain	NSW	Perenso Racing	Mustang
48	Rookie Cup	Keith Bensley	QLD	ASAP Marketing	Aurion
56	Championship	Joseph Andriske	QLD	Harveys Towing/TFH Temporary Fence Hire	Camaro
57	Rookie Cup	Brandon Madden	QLD	UNIT, Harveys Towing, Maddtrim	Camaro
78	Masters Cup	Grant Thompson	NSW	Western Sydney Motorsport	Mustang
82	Championship	Cody Mckay	NSW	Cody Mckay Motorsports	Camaro
86	Masters Cup	Brett Osborn	NSW	Osborn’s Transport	Camaro
87	Rookie Cup	Leslie Corrish	NSW	Corish Motorsports	Camaro
95	Rookie Cup	Nathan Williams	VIC	Nathan Williams Racing	Mustang
96	Gold Cup	Jeff Watters	VIC	Fight MND	Mustang
97	Championship	Shane van Gisbergen	NZ	Norganic Proteins	Camaro
111	Masters Cup	Kynan Yu	NZ	Highlands Motorsport Park	Toyota
187	Rookie Cup	Andrew Corish	NSW	Corish Motorsports	Camaro