Three-time Supercars Champion Shane van Gisbergen has arrived in the US in preparation for his NASCAR debut with Trackhouse racing next weekend.
He told Speedcafe earlier in the week that the opportunity presents a “massive challenge” but has gone into more detail on the track and machinery itself ahead of his NASCAR debut, where the 33-year-old Kiwi will switch from his regular Red Bull Ampol Racing Chevrolet Camaro Supercar for the Trackhouse Project91 Camaro NASCAR.
Big first day with @THProject91 meeting the team and getting fitted up before we head to Nashville tomorrow 😀 pic.twitter.com/erCYCqFzvz
— Shane van Gisbergen (@shanevg97) June 23, 2023
Adding another lay of difficulty – or perhaps to van Gisbergen’s advantage – is the challenge of the Chicago street circuit, which is new to the entire Cup Series field.
“I normally love the streets circuit, like the way that you have to drive – so committed, basically use the mirrors as feelers on the wall and yeah, the kerbs and stuff. So yeah, it’s something we always go well at, but as a driver I love them,” van Gisbergen said.
“Biggest difference from our Supercar to the NASCAR I’m going to have to get used to is obviously you’re sitting on the other side of the car. So that’s a big difference when we go to a street circuit, when you get used to the walls and stuff, you’ve got the whole car on the other side of you, so it’s going to be a bit different for me.
“It’s still a sequential gearbox, I think it’s a five-speed instead of a six, so you’re obviously changing gears with the other hand as well, which will be different, and then it has no doors either.”
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Van Gisbergen will have a spotter, an aid he enjoyed across four Daytona 24 Hour starts which does not feature in Supercars.
Despite the distinct differences, van Gisbergen has also found some areas of familiarity where his current skill set will require little to no adjustment.
The Kiwi is a right-foot braker, something that the cockpit layout of the 2023 Gen3 Supercars has complimented, with left-foot brakers facing a challenge in the new machinery.
“I think most people in NASCAR left [-foot brake] mainly with the ovals,” he said. “I’m told that you can right-foot on the street circuit, so that’ll suit me, because I feel like I’m going to go through the windscreen when I left-foot brake.”
“Looking at last year’s NASCAR or year before, they were very difficult, tough to drive with the H-pattern and the way it was all set up with the rear end.”
“Now that they’ve gone to independent rear end, sequential gearbox – certainly makes it easier for someone like me or Kimi [Raikkonen] to come in and have a race … I’m under no illusions it’ll be easy, but certainly, it’s a lot closer to what I’m used to.”
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