Christopher Bell opens up about challenges Chicago Street Race winner Shane van Gisbergen going to face at Indy Cup race
Shane van Gisbergen is expected to move to NASCAR to pursue a full-time seat.
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Christopher Bell (Credits: RACER) and Shane van Gisbergen (Credits: @TrackHouserracing/Twitter)
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell doesn’t see the maiden NASCAR Street Race winner Shane van Gisbergen as a contender for the Indianapolis Road Course Cup race win. The three-time Supercar champion made history when he won in Trackhouse Racing’s Project91 car in his Cup series debut.
The Kiwi driver will make his second Cup Series start next month at Indianapolis with Trackhouse. He will be joined by three elite ringers as well. Australian Supercar driver Brodie Kostecki will drive for Richard Childress Racing’s 3ed entry. 2009 F1 World Champion Jenson Button with RWR and WER legend Kamui Kobayashi with 23XI Racing are the other two main entrances.
While talking about the Kiwi driver making his second start, JGR youngster Christopher Bell has ruled out the possibility of him being a top contender. He backed his argument by pointing at the superior track experience the Cup garage has over him, unlike Chicago, which was a new track experience for everyone involved other than SVG, who has tamed many street courses in Supercars.
“I would say just the fact that we have all been there – I say we as the Cup group – for a number of years now. Lap one of the race track we are going to know roughly where our brake markers are, what the grip level is going to be at the different turns, so he is going to have to play catch up a little bit on the track knowledge,” Bell told the media at Pocono.
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SVG has a huge learning curve ahead of him, according to Christopher Bell
Bell is one of the drivers who is pretty good in the Road Course races and knows what it takes to secure a win there. Toyota has a solid Road Course package to go with it. The playoff bubble also gives a new dimension to Indy as for road-course masters such as AJ Allmendinger and Michael McDowell; it’s the best shot they have at securing the playoffs. It will make the competition intense.
Bell pointed out that SVG can overcome his disadvantage by coming to the weekend by practicing hard on the simulators and maximizing the practice session he will have on Friday to overcome the possible factors that could hinder his race,
“I’m sure he is going to have a bunch of simulator time that will prepare him for the visuals of it. I would expect that, by the end of the weekend, for him to not really have a disadvantage, but I would think at the start of practice, he’s going to have to learn the track a little more than the regulars will,” Bell added.
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Justin P Joy
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