‘Lost that a bit’: Van Gisbergen’s telling Supercars admission

By the end of his Supercars career, the three-time champion wound up with 81 wins, 176 podiums, and three Bathurst 1000 titles.

After dominating the final year of the Gen2 era, that success tapered off in the debut season of Gen3.

Even during the development of Gen3, van Gisbergen bemoaned the direction of the category.

An opportunity to race full-time in the United States presented a new challenge, and in NASCAR he has found a feeling he’s not had in a long time.

“It’s that enjoyment. A new challenge is always refreshing. I’d kind of lost that a bit in Australia,” van Gisbergen explained.

“I love the feeling of getting in a car and I’m putting my helmet on, shaking, and you’ve got that anxiety or nervousness not knowing how good you’re going to be, how is the race going to go, that pressure.

“Probably last year [2023] I got that at Bathurst. Richie [Stanaway] started the race, so I didn’t get it as bad, but it’s not something I would feel that often anymore.

“But yeah, whenever you’re jumping in a Sprint Car, an animal of a car, that feeling of, you know, ‘holy shit, I’ve got to go for it now’.

“Almost every race [in 2024], the pre-race staff, the anthem, the patriotism, and then when you’re doing the warm-up laps, the crowd… it’s just that cool feeling and that nervousness, that’s what you live for as a driver – well, I do.

“That excitement every week was a pretty cool feeling to have back.”

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