Fabian Coulthard: Kiwi success fantastic but spin left bitter taste

Shane van Gisbergen. Photo / Alan Gibson

Opinion

It was a bittersweet feeling watching Shane van Gisbergen storm to victory in Hamilton last week.

I said two weeks ago that I didn't care which Kiwi won as long as one of us did and it was great to watch Shane take the chequered flag.

He deserved it - he had been unlucky on the Saturday - and did brilliantly to hold off a strong field on the second day when he was obviously a bit nervous. I was elated for him, that's why I jumped over the wall to clap him through on the slow-down lap.

But it was a frustrating day for our team. Qualifying hurt us but we had progressed from 24th to 11th and I was passing the tenth car when I was hit and turned around.

Really it was amateur hour. Tony D'Alberto and I went into the corner side by side and it would have been nice to have had some more racing room. I had given Tony room earlier in the race on another turn but he didn't return the favour. It is about respect - you have to give a little to get a little.

Things happen quickly at high speed out there but I know if I am in the wrong, I will always go up to the other driver after the race and admit my mistake. Drivers have long memories and you can't afford to have enemies on the track. But what happened was one for the memory banks and I am sure next time I am head to head with Tony I will remember what happened in Hamilton.

It was clear on the television what happened, but he was judged by the Driver Standing Officials to have done no wrong. We had some different personnel in Hamilton who were not quite as strict as normal.

After that incident, we worked our way back up to seventh, which would have been a satisfactory finish before getting caught up in the smash with Alex Davison and Tim Slade. But that is motor racing - you have to take the good with the bad.

Fans are often curious about whether drivers socialise off the track. Generally we have a drink together on the Sunday of the race weekend but there are some, including some of the top names, who barely say hello to each other and probably prefer not to be in the same room.

Having said that, there is a fine line between professional respect and friendship and it is often better not to cross it. If you are not friends with someone then it makes things somehow easier if you overstep the mark out on the track because there is no emotion involved.

We are all competitors, after all, trying to beat each other.

It will be great to get back out on the track next week in Perth and the Barbagallo Raceway is always a challenge. At 2.4km it is one of the smaller tracks, along with Tasmania (Hamilton has a 3.4km lap; Adelaide 3.2km; Bathurst 6.21km) and passing opportunities are limited to just two turns.

The grip levels there get slightly worse every year and the passing winds often blow sand onto the circuit.

That wears the tyres even more and creates headaches for the boys in the pits.

But it is all about adapting the car to generate the right grip. Last time out in Perth we qualified in sixth so we will have high hopes next weekend.

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