Championship dominating team Red Bull Racing Australia will expand to a three car outfit for the 2016 season.
The current line-up of Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup will be joined by 2014 season runner-up Shane van Gisbergen.
The 25-year-old Kiwi has signed a three year contract with the team, after spending the last two seasons with Red Bull Racing technical partner Tekno Autosports.
“Given the growing trend of larger teams and the intense competition that this brings, we felt that this is the ideal time to add another entry to our championship campaign to enhance the competitive depth of the team,” said Triple Eight Managing Director Roland Dane.
“With Jamie, Craig and now Shane at the wheels of the Triple Eight Holdens, we will be fielding the strongest line-up in one of the world’s most closely fought categories, but for now we are focussing on the 2015 championship.”
Johnathon Webb, owner of Tekno Autosports, is disappointed to see the nine-time race winner leaving the team.
“Obviously we are sorry to be losing Shane at the end of the year; we have shared a lot of success over the past two years and we are looking forward to another fantastic year together in 2015.
“I have had a long relationship with Roland and Triple Eight Race Engineering and we look forward to working together into the foreseeable future with a new face behind the wheel of our race car.”
Other moves have been made in securing the team’s future, with Red Bull continuing their sponsorship until the end of 2017. Red Bull also have the option to stay on through 2018 as well.
“We’re all thrilled that Red Bull will be continuing their relationship with not just Triple Eight, but the category as a whole. As a team, we have achieved some truly remarkable things together and we look forward to seeing what else can grow from this partnership over the coming years on and off the track.”
