Breaking news
Supercars Albert Park
Engine failure caused van Gisbergen's Albert Park retirement
Triple Eight has confirmed that it was an engine failure, not a transaxle failure as first through, that took Shane van Gisbergen out of today's Supercars race at Albert Park.
Andrew van Leeuwen
Edited: Mar 15, 2019, 9:07 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The Kiwi rolled to a stop with three laps remaining in today's 25-lap feature race at the Australian Grand Prix, having been set to finish at least fourth thanks to a well-executed overcut strategy.
While it was initially reported that the car lost drive due to a transaxle issue – potentially controversial given the series has just introduced a new Xtrac control unit – the team has since discovered that it was an engine failure that left van Gisbergen stranded.
"It's not the transaxle, it's the engine," said T8 team manager Mark Dutton.
"We don't know what exactly, but it was a catastrophic failure that caused Shane to not be able to continue.
"It's very unusual. We'll replace [the engine] tonight for tomorrow, but we'll also dig deep to understand what component failure has happened to cause that knock-on effect.
"I can't remember [the last engine failure]. The only real ones that spring to mind engine-wise are more electronics letting us down. We've had a few throttle position sensors and the like.
"But as for mechanical engine stuff, touch wood we're pretty rock solid there."
Dutton added that the fact that today's race was one of two 25-lappers worth 100 points, rather than one of the 13-lappers with 50 points on the table, contributed to the disappointment.
"You're disappointed at any stage, but on this weekend, with races being worth different points, and particularly on car #97 with some differences in starting positions race-to-race... we would have much preferred it to be in Race 2 or Race 4 when it's 50 points not 100 points," he said.
"That said, you never want it to happen.
"We've all been working really hard, including [engine builder] Kenny McNamara and the engine shop, to make sure we don't have any DNFs – and we've clearly had one now.
"We'll step it up throughout Triple Eight and the engine shop and make sure it's a one-off."
The DNF has dropped van Gisbergen from second in the points to fifth, 142 behind leader Scott McLaughlin.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Albert Park Supercars: McLaughlin wins, late drama for van Gisbergen
Next article Win gave McLaughlin goosebumps after Christchurch tragedy
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Andrew van Leeuwen
Toby Price explains 'unfortunate' Mitsubishi split
Dakar
Dakar
Dakar
Toby Price explains 'unfortunate' Mitsubishi split
Supercars parity review begins
Supercars
Supercars
Supercars parity review begins
SRO set for bigger Australian GT presence
GT World Challenge Australia
GT World Challenge Australia
SRO set for bigger Australian GT presence
More from
Shane van Gisbergen
Winners and losers from the penultimate round of 2026 NASCAR Cup season at Martinsville
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Martinsville II
Winners and losers from the penultimate round of 2026 NASCAR Cup season at Martinsville
Shane van Gisbergen charges from 29th to fifth at Martinsville
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Martinsville II
Shane van Gisbergen charges from 29th to fifth at Martinsville
Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen to race for JR Motorsports again in 2027
NASCAR O'Reilly
NASCAR O'Reilly
Phoenix II
Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen to race for JR Motorsports again in 2027
More from
Triple Eight Race Engineering
Supercars, Triple Eight own up to “significant” error that has made Will Brown slower
Supercars
Supercars
Supercars, Triple Eight own up to “significant” error that has made Will Brown slower
Supercars Adelaide: Broc Feeney attacks to edge closer to 2025 title
Supercars
Supercars
Adelaide 500
Supercars Adelaide: Broc Feeney attacks to edge closer to 2025 title
Lowndes set for Triple Eight split to stay with General Motors
Supercars
Supercars
Melbourne SuperSprint
Lowndes set for Triple Eight split to stay with General Motors
Latest news
Robert Kubica announces exit from AF Corse’s privateer Hypercar in WEC
WEC
WEC WEC
Monza
14 min
Robert Kubica announces exit from AF Corse’s privateer Hypercar in WEC
Charles Leclerc penalised for Liam Lawson clash; Kimi Antonelli and Oliver Bearman also punished after F1 Brazilian GP
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
40 min
Charles Leclerc penalised for Liam Lawson clash; Kimi Antonelli and Oliver Bearman also punished after F1 Brazilian GP
Max Verstappen "needs to understand what happened" after "night and day" F1 comeback in Brazilian GP
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
41 min
Max Verstappen "needs to understand what happened" after "night and day" F1 comeback in Brazilian GP
LIVE: NASCAR Cup season finale at Homestead lap-by-lap updates
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
1 h
LIVE: NASCAR Cup season finale at Homestead lap-by-lap updates
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe