Shane van Gisbergen says he doesn’t feel any added expectation heading into the new Virgin Australia Supercars season as the defending champion.
The Red Bull Holden Racing Team driver emerged as the class of the field last year by scooping a maiden championship crown and in doing so becoming the first New Zealander to achieve the feat since Jim Richards in 1991.
Now with a target on his back, the 27-year-old does not believe pressure or expectations levels will increase this year.
“I don’t feel there is any more expectation,” Van Gisbergen told Speedcafe.com.
“It is pretty special to win a title and I still feel pretty stoked about it.
“This year is a new year and like before I am going to be pushing to win races and score as many points as I can when I can’t.
“I will approach it like I have every other year and have some fun.
“I don’t start with any extra points than anyone else because of last year.
“Everyone is fresh and motivated after a good break. I’m just excited get to Adelaide and see what everyone turns up with.”
Van Gisbergen was on hand to unveil the new look Red Bull Holden Racing Team Commodore at Holden’s Melbourne headquarters yesterday alongside team-mate and championship rival Jamie Whincup.
While he expects Whincup to offer another sustained effort to wrestle the title away from him, he feels challenges will come from up and down the grid.
“I think both Jamie and Craig will be pretty fast in the same equipment and I’m not just looking at Jamie,” he added.
“We worked as trio very well together last year developing all the cars.
“We really took a step forward from mid-season and hopefully we can carry that on into this year and adapt the new tyre.”
The Kiwi admits the 2017 campaign will be tough but expects to hit the ground running unlike last year, having now settled in at Triple Eight.
However, one variable new to him and the rest of the grid is the newly constructed Dunlop tyres.
Yet to experience the changed rubber until the official test at Sydney Motorsport Park (February 21), Van Gisbergen is unsure how much affect they will have over the course of the season.
“I haven’t driven on the new tyre yet so we will see how different it is going to be,” he said.
“We will figure it out in a test day in a couple weeks time and see ho quickly we can adapt.
“A lot of people are talking it up we haven’t actually seen how different it is.”
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