Shane van Gisbergen, a three-time Supercars champion and recent NASCAR Cup Series winner, is carving out a new chapter in his life in the U.S. alongside his partner, Jess Dane. The couple began dating in 2022 while van Gisbergen was still racing for Triple Eight Race Engineering, with Dane then serving as a team owner. Both have continued their connections with General Motors, with van Gisbergen now racing for Trackhouse Racing, while Dane recently joined as its motorsports integration manager.
Dane’s role will soon shift, as she’s set to become the GT3 program manager at Corvette Racing, where she’ll oversee the global GT3 programs centered around the Corvette Z06. On a recent episode of the Apex Hunters United podcast, van Gisbergen humorously shared that he’s lobbying Dane for a chance to compete in the 24 Hours of Daytona. Recalling fond memories of the endurance race, he noted that it’s now much closer to his home, a convenient one-hour flight instead of a 28-hour journey. “I loved that race,” he said, praising its atmosphere and pace.
In the IMSA SportsCar Championship, only a limited number of teams currently race the Corvette Z06 GT3.R, which is equipped with a 5.5-liter flat-plane crank V8 engine. For the upcoming season, Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsport is the only professional GTD Pro team, while AWA and DXDT Racing will join the grid in the Pro-Am GTD category.
Van Gisbergen, who first competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2014 with Alex Job Racing in a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, remains hopeful about his prospects for returning to the iconic event. He raced in Daytona annually through 2017, took a short break, and returned in 2020 with Vasser Sullivan in a Lexus RC F GT3. Though he doesn’t have anything confirmed yet, he’s optimistic that plans are taking shape for him to get back into the race.
