KEY POINTS:
Shane Van Gisbergen was back down to earth and in the thick of the action at the Eastern Creek V8 Supercar round at the weekend.
After a dream start to the season with a fifth place for the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide, this weekend the 18-year-old Kiwi found out first hand how hard it can be in the renownedly touch tin-top competition.
After a standout performance which saw him qualify 10th quickest, Van Gisbergen ended up 18th in the first race after being bundled off the track on the last lap while lying 14th by Holden driver Paul Morris.
In Sunday morning's second race he struggled with brake problems which saw him run off the circuit in the first lap, pit for repairs then resume five laps down and be classified 18th at the flag.
He was forced to start the final race from the back row of the grid, and then copped a drive-through penalty for exceeding the speed limit in pit lane after his compulsory stop.
"The results didn't show it this weekend but we have definitely made some progress and learned a lot," he said after the race.
"In race two the pedal in the SP Tools Racing Falcon went long and I didn't have any brakes.
"We put new rotors on it which helped for a few laps but I ended up pumping the pedal for the whole race. It became a bit more predictable at the end so we were able to give it a got and put in a few good lap times.
"Then in race three I picked up about 10 positions in the opening laps but during my pit stop I ran in the wrong gear down pit lane and overran the limiter. We served our penalty then managed to sneak in a few passes after the last safety car restart to get back up to 17th.
Van Gisbergen is 19th overall for the round and is now 13th overall in the series points standings.
