Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch has declared Shane van Gisbergen the favourite for the Indianapolis road course race, but expects team-mate Brodie Kostecki to be “strong” as well.
There will be two Supercars Championship drivers in the field at The Brickyard next month when Kostecki makes his Cup Series debut in a third Richard Childress Racing (RCR) entry, six weeks after van Gisbergen won on his own debut on the streets of Chicago.
“I would say he is the favourite going in, for sure,” remarked Busch of the two-time Bathurst 1000 winner.
“I would say that the gap will be closer from Chicago to the rest of the field that he had.
“He had us all beat by six to eight tenths of a second a lap; I would say going into Indy we should all be within two to three tenths, but he will still be the best guy.”
Kostecki’s deal was facilitated in part by a link between his Erebus Motorsport Supercars team and RCR through Andrew Dickinson, who is nowadays an engineer on Busch’s #8 Chevrolet Camaro.
Dickinson formerly worked for the Image Racing Super2 team which is closely aligned to Erebus, and RCR recently bought an ex-Image VF Commodore.
Now, ‘Bush’ (Kostecki) and Busch have both driven that Supercar in the United States, which the latter found to be an eye-opening experience.
“We tested together our V8 Supercar that we have at RCR earlier this year,” recounted Busch.
“So, he was there when we first went out and I think he had me covered by about two seconds a lap and then as the day kind of progressed, and by the end of the day, we actually ran times that were real comparable and right on top of his.
“It just took me a while to get used to those cars and what they are and how you can really attack corners; just various driving techniques that those cars take.
“But, I think those guys are all very good at what they do, and they really understand the heavy stock car feel and basis for these road courses, so I would assume that he will be strong as well.
“Hopefully I can lean on him and learn a lot from him and have some time in the sim and stuff like that with him that will allow us to be better off when we get there as well and better prepared.”
Busch did not go into intricate detail about what he learned from Kostecki, but it would not be surprising if one of the things he took notice of was the heel-and-toe braking technique which is employed by most Supercars drivers.
NASCAR drivers typically do not use the clutch when they downshift, instead left-foot braking, but developed a “foot fetish” over how van Gisbergen went about his craft in Chicago, quipped the man himself.
While a handful of Supercars drivers left-foot brake, a number which is dwindling due to the traits of Gen3, the technique requires precision to prevent a rough downchange.
Van Gisbergen seemingly created an advantage for himself by being smoother than his rivals, noting “We use it a bit to control the rear locking,” and thus may also have prolonged his tyre life.
NASCAR is on the ‘Tricky Triangle’ of Pocono this weekend while the Supercars Championship continues next weekend with the Sydney SuperNight.
Van Gisbergen and Kostecki will race at Indianapolis on the weekend of August 11-13 as part of a NASCAR-IndyCar double-header.
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