T8 Celebrations Have Begun
Celebrations have begun for one of the major milestones in the history of touring car racing in Australia.
When Shane van Gisbergen crossed the finishing line for Race 23 of the 2020 Supercars championship he delivered the 200th victory for Roland Dane and his company Triple Eight Race Engineering.
The landmark victory came almost exactly 17 years after Dane’s arrival in Australia to establish what has become the benchmark team in the modern era.
Dane was able to celebrate the success with the three drivers who have been the bedrock of his success, van Gisbergen, Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes at Townsville, as well as Mark Skaife who was also a Bathurst winner as Whincup’s co-driver.
The print is singed by the three drivers and has a picture of each of Triple Eight’s winning cars, with its identifying chassis number and the number of victories it scored.
Roland Dane is better known for looking forward than back, from his early days in Australia with Ford Falcons through the Vodafone and Red Bull days, a switch from Ford to Holden, and the eventual promotion to the official Holden Racing Team.
“Honestly, it’s a number and I respect the numbers, but any race win is good,” Dane said in Townsville.
“I look back on it, honestly, with a sense of achievement for everyone has been involved. There have been a lot of good people involved.”
Apart from the drivers, Dane also pays tribute to his long-term engineering aces Mark Dutton and Jeromy Moore, as well as engine expert Kenny McNamara and all the other people who have been at T8 over the 17 years.
