Greg Murphy: Aucklander has nothing to fear or worry about

Shane van Gisbergen.

Opinion

All the talk leading into this weekend's ITM Auckland SuperSprint is around Aucklander Shane van Gisbergen's charge for the Supercars title and what he can do at home at Pukekohe to help win it.

There are a few things that he will be working to do that he does at every race weekend.

Firstly, he will start with building the fastest car possible before qualifying. Then it is a case of putting your car as far forward as you can so you don't have to worry about passing.

I think he will achieve that this weekend.

I can see both he and teammate Jamie Whincup and maybe Scott McLaughlin at the front of the field and so he will be there among guys he can trust but also race hard and fair with.

There is no point going out there to start doing things differently to try to minimise the risk because all that does is increase it. You have to treat every weekend the same way you've been doing it all season.

I think a guy in his position, with the tools at his disposal, with the confidence he's got and the speed he's showing has nothing to fear or worry about.

If he were to secure this title in the next few weeks then he deserves a lot of kudos. It is incredibly hard but he has done all the things he needs to do to make it as easy as possible.

That is being involved with a team that provides the resource and the support that it does, that works to give him what he needs and also works with him to help him do the small things he needs to do to be better.

He has worked hard and driven very well to end up in a team that can help him win it.

It will be huge for the sport, huge for Kiwis and huge for van Gisbergen if he can take this out.

It has been way too long - and he has positioned himself very well to be the first guy since Jim Richards to win an Australian Touring Car/Supercars championship.

There's nothing unique about Pukekohe Park Raceway. This race track is just another race track in many respects. You just have to suck it up and be very fast in a couple of key areas. It is a short lap so you have to be accurate. Because it is only one minute and three seconds to get around it, you have to be that good to try and give yourself a chance of winning.

For the Kiwis this weekend it is about the enjoyment of being on home turf and having the support of the home crowd and enjoying that feeling and using to their advantage.