Cindric joined Tickford Racing for the 2025 Supercars season finale where he failed to crack the top 20 across all three races.
It was a relatively incident-free weekend for Team Penske’s Cup Series star, save for a broken splitter after clipping the Senna Chicane tyre bundle.
Speaking on the KTM Summer Grill, van Gisbergen said it showed just how good the Supercars drivers are.
However, he tempered that statement with the expectation that very few Supercars drivers would go any better on an oval
“Well, he was last,” said van Gisbergen.
“Our guys are so good over there, that’s the thing. People realise the level of Supercars is really high.
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“Even the back markers are pretty decent drivers all through the junior categories. You don’t end up in Supercars because you’re average.
“It was going to be very difficult for him, and especially at the end of the year when everyone’s tuned up. They’ve just done a few street circuits and a lot of time in the cars.
“I think it’d be very difficult for him to jump in there, and I think he did a solid job. The conditions look pretty difficult on Saturday. He did solid, but yeah, it’s always going to be tough jumping in a category like that and going hard.
“You put any one of the Supercar drivers in an oval, and they’ll be at the back as well. They’re two completely different disciplines I think.”
Cindric wasn’t the first driver in mind to tackle the Supercars wildcard. Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson were both tapped for the opportunity, but neither opportunity came to fruition.
Van Gisbergen said he would be keen to see how Larson would fare, considering his similarly broad racing CV.
“He’s got a pretty diverse racing background,” said van Gisbergen of Larson.
“It probably will scare people off. As I said, it’s a tough, tough category. Every time you see an outsider come in, it’s pretty difficult for them to do well.
“I think we should be proud of the level that that series is at.”
So would van Gisbergen ever consider coming back to Australia for the Adelaide Grand Final?
Right now, it’s a firm no – and he reckons the same is true for fellow Supercars champions Scott McLaughlin or Jamie Whincup.
“Maybe one day, but I think it would be stupid for myself, or Scotty or Jamie, for example, to do Adelaide,” van Gisbergen said.
“You would not want to be involved in the championship fight, especially because you’d probably be in a top team that’s involved in the championship.
“If I was to do a wildcard, I’d be retired and do it mid-season, or do Bathurst or something. I would never want to get involved in the championship final.”
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