Motorsport: Calendar clashes not kind to Van Gisbergen

Shane Van Gisbergen celebrates after winning at the V8 Supercars Sydney SuperSprint. Photo / Getty Images

Kiwi racing driver Shane Van Gisbergen won't be able to defend his Blancpain Endurance Series title next year after clashes with his Supercars commitments.

The Supercars calendar released earlier this week hasn't been kind to the championship leader's plans for Europe next year with a number of clashes.

He will miss the opener in Monza in April as well as the 24 Hours of Spa in August while the Le Mans 24 Hour race falls on the same weekend as the Hidden Valley round of the Supercars championship - the same as this season.

Van Gisbergen is still hoping to work out a deal with the McLaren works team, who he successfully drove for this year, but admits it is going to be challenging.

"It's obviously pretty fresh all of the calendar stuff so I've still got to work it all out," Van Gisbergen told Speedcafe.com.

"It's certainly a shame that I can't do Le Mans, which remains a dream for me, or Spa, which is the only Blancpain race I'm yet to win.

"I've been in contact with Andrew (Kirkaldy, McLaren GT director) already, so we'll work together on what we can do.

"Looking at the other (non-clashing Blancpain Endurance) races, it's a long way to go and do a three hour race where you only really do 10 laps of practice and a third of the race.

"There's no chance of winning that championship so we'll look at our options, whether that be the (Blancpain) Sprint championship or other things in America."

Van Gisbergen is hoping to compete at January's Daytona 24 Hour race for a fourth consecutive year.