Bathurst 1000 winner Shane van Gisbergen will head home to New Zealand after claiming his maiden win at Mount Panorama.

The Red Bull driver delivered an emotional victory for Holden in the iconic Australian motoring brand’s last Supercars race before it is retired.

Van Gisbergen, who teamed with veteran Garth Tander, buried painful memories of near misses in finishing second in 2016 and 2019.

He won the championship in 2016 and claimed 39 career victories, but the great race had never gone to plan.

After being separated from his family during the COVID-19 affected Supercars season, van Gisbergen is just looking forward to returning home.

“Gave mum and dad a call (straight after the race) and they were pretty stoked,” he said.

“Those last 60 laps were flat out the whole way. It was tense but quite enjoyable.

“The car just got better and better throughout the day and the last couple of stints were really cool to drive.

“I’ve had some bad runs at Bathurst in the past, and today was all about making no mistakes.”

Van Gisbergen drove his victory lap with a Holden flag flying out of his Commodore in tribute to red lion supporters.

It was Holden’s final Supercars race in a factory capacity before it is retired by General Motors at the end of this year.

“We’ve been the factory team for the last couple of years, and to not have Holden support racing anymore is devastating, but to win the last Bathurst 1000 for them was something pretty special,” van Gisbergen said.

Commodores will still appear on the Supercars grid next season, just not in an official capacity.

But van Gisbergen’s Triple Eight team has already committed to racing in Chevrolet Camaros in 2022 when Holden vehicles are fazed out.