Motorsport: Shane van Gisbergen keen to continue turnaround

NZ Herald

26 Jul, 2019 05:00 PM4 mins to read

Shane van Gisbergen scored his second win of the season three weeks ago in Townsville but still trails Scott McLaughlin by almost 500 points. Photo / Getty Images

This weekend's Supercars round at Ipswich in Queensland will be a good indicator whether Shane van Gisbergen's success in the last round at Townsville was a one-off or the start of something good.

While all eyes have been on DJR Team Penske's Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard, who have won 15 of this season's 18 races, the former dominant Roland Dane-led team are well behind.

Whincup has struggled with the car set-up and is on one of his longest winless streaks and van Gisbergen has manhandled his car to just two wins at the season's halfway point.

Townsville, however, might have been a turning point for Triple Eight. Van Gisbergen is pleased with the team's progress in getting the car to be a potential race winner but is also aware one victory doesn't prove much.

"We've had a pretty tough year so far in some ways, so it was good to get a good result, especially with Holden recommitting to the sport," van Gisbergen told the Weekend Herald.

"It was good timing in that regard and it wasn't a lucky win but we did have a lot of things go our way. We still have a lot of work to do and we can't always rely on things always going our way.

"Winning in Townsville was good for the team but it doesn't mean we've turned the corner. This weekend, will see if we're improving."

For much of this season, RBHR have been chasing their own tails in an effort to make inroads into the dominant performance of DJR Team Penske and the Mustangs in general. They have at times made radical changes to their cars over a race weekend, usually to no avail.

Van Gisbergen and Whincup have struggled with their cars, which does not inspire confidence. Now, though, it looks like they may have turned a corner.

"There's always something with a race car. You're always trying to make it go faster. For us, it was good to have a test, as we've been throwing so many different things at the car all race weekend, so it was good to have a whole day to try and refine stuff.

"I worked on a whole bunch of things, as Jamie also did. We made it [the car] a little bit quicker and also more consistent and nicer [to drive]. Sometimes you just don't know what you've always got underneath you. Hopefully from now on, we can be more consistent with our set-up and get some momentum going again."

The Ipswich track layout, known as the paperclip, may look boring on paper but the drivers have a different perspective. Over a lap, the track has just about everything you'd find on any championship venue, thus making it a challenge to get the car set-up right.

"It is boring on paper but it has every type of corner: high speed, medium speed, low speed and a hairpin. There's also big braking and long straights, it's got everything there. You do need a good all-round car and it's a proper technical track.

"You'll certainly see the fastest cars up the front this weekend and we're looking to build on how we have improved the car and hopefully we will be up near the front.

"Unfortunately, it takes time to chip away when someone has such a huge advantage [McLaughlin leads Coulthard by 298 points, with van Gisbergen third 499 points behind].

"We're not giving up and will be fighting every race. The championship is a long shot but we're only halfway through it. It'll be hard to knock him [McLaughlin] off but we'll keep trying."