Plenty of life in Supercars championship race

Shane Van Gisbergen says there's plenty of life left in the V8 Supercars championship race. Photo / Mark Horsburgh

There's plenty of life in the V8 Supercars championship yet - just ask Shane van Gisbergen.

While runaway leader Jamie Whincup is set to claim a historic fourth-straight crown, the fight to be bridesmaid to car No.1 is as fierce as the jostling for a wedding bouquet.

The Holden driver is just one of a number of a pilots still in contention for career-best finishes this season.

If van Gisbergen can finish the season on a high, he'll claim the runner-up position behind champion-in-waiting Whincup. And right now, van Gisbergen has all the momentum.

The happy-go-lucky 25-year-old has beaten home his chief rival for second place, Mark Winterbottom, in eight of the past nine races.

He's claimed race wins in New Zealand, Eastern Creek and on the Gold Coast in his best V8 Supercars season.

Seasoned drivers might see the runner-up position as simply 'first loser' but, for the New Zealander, it would be terrific.

"Second would be a great result," he said.

"You always want to do better but second is what's achievable - we've got to do everything to try and get there."

The Kiwi sits 76 points behind Winterbottom in second.

That gap is nothing compared to the chasm between leader Whincup and Winterbottom - a massive 402 points that's led van Gisbergen to conclude the obvious about the destination of the drivers' championship.

"Over 400 points? Yeah, it's done," he said. "It's pretty certain, that is. I'm not thinking about (catching Whincup) - I'm thinking about second."

Van Gisbergen credits good speed from his Team Tekno Commodore with solid point-earning drives this season.

But in the race to be best of the rest, van Gisbergen cannot afford to look purely ahead. Former champion Craig Lowndes sits 26 points behind in the Red Bull Racing No.888. Van Gisbergen said his race strategy couldn't shift to simply chasing down Winterbottom's Ford.

"Just keep going as usual - I can't focus on just one guy," he said. "We've got two weekends to go and we want to win every race we can."

-AAP