Motorsport: Van Gisbergen eyes more success

Kiwi Shane van Gisbergen will push for his second win to close the small gap to the lead. Photo / Alan Gibson

Barbagallo Raceway, just outside Perth, will awaken to the thunder of the big V8 Supercars this weekend for round four of the series after missing out on the event last year.

Young rising New Zealand V8 star Shane van Gisbergen has proven in the past he can mix it up with the big boys and now has his maiden win in the bag. He'll be keen to push on and prove his ITM400 race win on home soil was no fluke and to notch up another top finish.

The Kiwi is poised in sixth place on the table and is only 39 points behind second-placed Rick Kelly. Despite being knocked off his winning perch in Hamilton, Jamie Whincup still has a healthy 81-point lead at the top of the championship table.

"Last time we were here we didn't have the best of results but it's a good track and we're all on a high after Hamilton," said van Gisbergen.

"I'm looking forward to getting back out on to the track again and keeping the good results coming.

The first win is the hardest to get and I'm looking at it as part of the progression of the last few years of getting better and better.

"We've got to keep focused and more wins will come our way. The more podiums and wins we get the better chance we'll have in the championship."

The Perth race will be new territory for all the drivers with a few tweaks added in to make things even more interesting. The race format has changed with three 50-lap races round the 2.4 km circuit, rather than the usual two. Also, qualifying has a twist just to make it a little more complicated.

Grid positions for the first two races will be decided the usual way - each race will have a dedicated qualifying session with the usual top-10 shoot-out. The grid for the third race, however, will be decided by the driver's second-best lap time in the Sunday qualifying session.

"They gave me a good car at the last race but this is a completely different sort of track. This is a wide open track and it suited our car last time out here, so there's no reason we can't be good this year," van Gisbergen said.

"Friday is always important and shapes the weekend and if you have a good one on Friday, you're going to be good all weekend. So hopefully, the car will be good out of the truck and we don't have to tweak too much and I can focus on driving."

Drivers will use the series' hard compound tyre on Saturday (for qualifying, the top-10 shoot-out and 50-lap race) and the stickier but less durable soft compound tyre for Sunday's race.

Van Gisbergen likes the soft compound tyre and would prefer to use it all the time. Previously he's said the soft compound tyre gives more grip and allows more passing under braking.

Two-time V8 Supercars champion Whincup is confident he'll be able to extend his lead in the championship after the speed bump in Hamilton. Last time the category raced in Perth, Whincup and his TeamVodafone teammate Craig Lowndes took both pole positions and a race win each.

A resurgent Rick Kelly can't wait to wheel his car out on to the Barbagallo circuit on the back of his first race win at the ITM400 with his new Kelly Racing team, which rocketed the former champion into second place in the series.

"We've enjoyed the race win and now it's time to cement ourselves up there. That for us is absolutely critical," said Kelly.

"The older car that we used in Hamilton is as good a chassis as we've got, even though the newer chassis is a little nicer in a few areas.

"It was great to drag it up the front where it belongs - now we just have to keep it there over in [Perth]."

With six of the 27 races completed, the seven drivers from Rick Kelly to eighth-placed Alex Davison are covered by less than one race win (150 points).

Series leaders

1. Jamie Whincup - 654

2. Rick Kelly - 573

3. Craig Lowndes - 552

4. Mark Winterbottom - 543

5. Garth Tander - 543

6. Shane van Gisbergen - 534

7. Will Davison - 528

8. Alex Davison - 522

9. Steven Johnson - 455

10. Fabian Coulthard - 441

Find out more

v8supercars.com.au