Shane van Gisbergen was born to race. From pestering his father Robert to buy him a Suzuki ATV at the tender age of just five, to signing (at a mere 17 years of age) a contract to race V8 Supercars for top Ford team Stone Brothers Racing, the constant in his life has been competition.

Raised in Auckland, New Zealand, Shane spent his early years racing ATVs on natural terrain motocross tracks and a Quarter Midget on speedway ovals. Then followed a brief but successful dalliance with karts and then a year in the Formula First class courtesy of New Zealand's SpeedSport magazine scholarship programme saw his focus turn to tarmac.