Shane van Gisbergen Exposes His Superspeedway Weakness That ‘Will Take Years to Fix’

Trackhouse Racing star driver Shane van Gisbergen shared his thoughts on how tough Superspeedway racing is for him.

Shane van Gisbergen Exposes His Superspeedway Weakness That ‘Will Take Years to Fix’

Shane van Gisbergen at Mexico City (via Imago)

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Trackhouse Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen is one of the most unique talents NASCAR has in the garage. The three times Supercars champion made his Cup rookie debut last season, finishing the year with five road course wins. But the season also exposed his weaknesses in Ovals and Superspeedways that defines the sport.

Recently in an interview with Speedcafe’s KTM Summer Grill, the Kiwi racer shared his thoughts on how tough it is for him to perform in Daytona and Talladega. Shane van Gisbergen admitted that his team has genuine lack of speed at these tracks, and the Trackhouse drivers’ consistent failure to draft together is also a major issue that is holding him back.

We do need to find some speed to genuinely be able to win and manage those races as a team. The Trackhouse cars, we really struggle to work together because we can’t stay attached to each other with the way we work. So, yeah, the dynamic of those races is so different, and that sort of stuff is going to take me years to get better at.

Shane van Gisbergen said via KTM Summer Grill.

Further talking about the point, he admitted that it is hard for him to find his place in the complicated drafting dynamic, as not everyone in the garage trusts him enough to race in the same group at Superspeed ways. But he remains hopeful, as he is learning the trade and is slowly making strong relationship with rest of the racers.

It’s so hard to know how to place, not only know how to place yourself, but how to get people to trust you and want to work with you. It’s um you know, like I’m starting to make friends with drivers, but you know, they still just leave me first thing. You know, it’s um you got to get that trust as a driver. And it’s yeah, it’s such a there’s no other racing dynamic like that in the world.

Shane van Gisbergen added.

Shane van Gisbergen asserts racing at Atlanta is easier than racing at Daytona and Talladega

The NASCAR schedule features three Superspeedways, Daytona, Atlanta and Talladega. For SVG, the only track he feels comfortable in is the middle one. The Georgia track offers him more opportunities to manipulate the car and make more move. But at the other two tracks according to him will be at the mercy of fuel saving and pit-stops.

Shane van Gisbergen
Shane van Gisbergen (Via @shanevg97/X)

Atlanta’s a little bit easier because handling comes into play. you can manipulate the car and search for air, but the Daytona and Talladega, you’re kind of at the mercy of how your last pit stop goes and how good your fuel economy is and trying to stay at the right spot.

Shane van Gisbergen said.

The veteran pointed out that the Next-Gen cars are extremely draggy in the Superspeedways and highlighted how it’s impossible to make moves alone in the third lane. It’s difficult for him just be one of the cars in the drafting train.

It’s um with how draggy the cars are, your kind of can’t get that third lane going and get going. You’re kind of just in a train. Yeah, it’s difficult.

Shane van Gisbergen added.

The comments from the veteran racer seems to be on point, as he got a lot to learn on how to get ahead of the competition in the superspeedways. It would be interesting to see how long it will take for the three times Supercars champion to be competitive at Daytona and Talladega.

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