Shane van Gisbergen faces protests after brilliant start to Supercars title defence in Newcastle 500

Shane van Gisbergen after the Newcastle victory. Photo/GettyImages

Supercars ace Shane van Gisbergen’s brilliant start to the new season hit a speed bump with two opponents protesting the result in Newcastle.

A decision is expected today after Motorsport Australia officials met following protests against the cooling systems on the cars driven by the Kiwi and his Triple Eight teammate Broc Feeney.

It is believed the protest centres on the use of dry ice by the team during the Newcastle opener, and the potential breaching of cooling system cockpit mounting rules.

Racing resumes today with the second 250km race in the Newcastle 500, after van Gisbergen and Feeney took the top two race-one spots in their Gen3 Camaros.

In the lead-up to the opening race, reigning champion van Gisbergen had expressed concern over heat inside his car and officials okayed added proofing measures for practice and qualifying.

Van Gisbergen said he even used his left foot on the accelerator at times, because this gave it relief from the bottom wall heat.

Prior to the race, he complained that if felt as if his feet were “on fire”.

Supercars has undergone a major shake-up - including the reduction of car downforces - which is expected to improve the racing battles and added an element of the unknown for 2023.

But van Gisbergen, who has won the last two titles, began the season in a familiar fashion.

He started sixth on the grid but went on to continue Red Bull’s amazing dominance of the series and record his 76th career victory. It is the third year in a row van Gisbergen has claimed the opening race.

But the victory will have to survive protests from Tickford Racing and Walkinshaw Andretti United.

Van Gisbergen faced another hurdle in the race, being held up by lapped opponent Macauley Jones. He made his feelings known with a hand signal as he finally passed Jones by.