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Triple Eight to Return, Increased Commitment for van Gisbergen

Shane van Gisbergen to contest five events of six-event campaign with Prince Jefri Ibrahim…

Photo: SRO

Leading Virgin Australia Supercars team Triple Eight Race Engineering will continue its GT program in 2020, returning to GT World Challenge Asia.

The Brisbane-based outfit will field a new Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo in the pan-continental series after debuting this year.

Triple Eight’s GT World Challenge Asia program will once again be supported by Malaysia’s regional Johor Royal Family as part of the six-event campaign.

Shane van Gisbergen will co-drive alongside Prince Jefri Ibrahim in all but one of the 2020 events in an increased program for the New Zealander after he missed three appearances last season due to clashes with Supercars rounds.

But with only one clash in 2020, the round at Buriram which conflicts with the Auckland Supercars round, van Gisbergen will have five outings as part of Triple Eight’s GT3 lineup.

The team’s Pro replacement for van Gisbergen at Buriram is yet to be announced.

“We greatly enjoyed our first year in GT World Challenge Asia and we’re looking forward to building upon everything we learnt,” said team principal Roland Dane.

“SRO have been excellent to work with and made the process of entering a new category for us very easy and enjoyable.

“We’re very happy to continue with His Royal Highness Prince Jefri, as well as Shane and Jazeman (Jaafar), who will continue to support the team next year.

“We’re looking forward to getting on track in 2020 with the three of them and the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.”

Triple Eight’s 2020 GT program will also include the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour in just over a month’s time, with van Gisbergen again expected to be a part of the driving squad for the Jan. 31 – Feb. 2 event.

The GT World Challenge Asia season kicks off at Sepang on March 28-29.

Slade Perrins is an Australian-based reporter for Sportscar365. Perrins won the 2019 Virgin Australia Supercars 'Young Gun Award' for journalism for his work with speedcafe.com.

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