Apparent “political pressures” have thwarted Shane van Gisbergen’s plans to contest the upcoming Turtle Wax Trans Am round.
The 2020 Bathurst 1000 winner was set to make his debut in the NASCAR-style category with Shaw Motorsport aboard the squad’s Chevrolet Camaro next month.
However, that won’t go ahead under duress from his Supercars team Triple Eight Race Engineering who it is understood told him he is not allowed to compete in the rival series.
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Shaw Motorsport boss Tim Shaw bemoaned the “disappointing” opposition to van Gisbergen’s participation.
“We put a lot of effort into getting Shane in the car,” Shaw said.
“We had a successful test with him, it was a great day and we were looking forward to a very competitive outing at Queensland Raceway.
“Shane contracted COVID just before the Bathurst round, so that put paid to that, and now political pressures have put a complete end to it.
“It’s just very disappointing for motorsport, because the fans love to see Shane in the car.
“One of the reasons that he is the best is because he is the modern day Peter Brock – he drives everything.
“At the moment, my car is still entered for QR, so I’ll jump back in and I’ll drive instead of Shane.”
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The ban from racing the Trans Am Camaro comes at a time when Supercars is developing its own Camaro under the long-awaited Gen3 regulations for 2023.
The racing all-rounder currently leads the Repco Supercars Championship for Triple Eight and has been a key part of the development of the next-generation touring car.
Earlier this year, van Gisbergen revealed plans to contest select Trans Am rounds which were initially endorsed by Triple Eight.
He had been slated to contest the third round of the season as part of the Speed Series program at Mount Panorama earlier this year until he was struck down with COVID-19.
Under former team principal Roland Dane and newly appointed boss Jamie Whincup, Triple Eight Race Engineering has typically been supportive of van Gisbergen’s extracurricular activities.
Recently, the two-time Supercars champion competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Ferrari as part of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
The 33-year-old is currently in New Zealand to promote the forthcoming FIA World Rally Championship event centred around Auckland, which he will contest in a Skoda.
The Trans Am Series will feature at the upcoming Speed Series round at Queensland Raceway on August 5-7.
The Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series will headline proceedings with support classes including Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS, Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge, GC Marine Australian Prototype Series, Australian Production Cars, and Radical Australia Cup.
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