Motorsport: Shane van Gisbergen returns to the track this weekend to begin Supercars title defence

Shane van Gisbergen returns to the track this weekend. Photo / Photosport

Shane van Gisbergen starts the defence of his Supercars crown in Sydney this weekend with a new engineer, boss and teammate.

The Kiwi driver will be working with Andrew Edwards, his third engineer in three years on the Triple Eight team.

"It's a tough one and a weird one why they [the engineers] are moving on," van Gisbergen told the Weekend Herald.

"I've had some great engineers, and with Andrew starting, this year is going to be pretty exciting. He comes from a good team [Brad Jones Racing] and is very experienced.

"Already his way of thinking and fresh ideas have been good, and someone with an outside look can always provide good insight. We'll just have to see how we go and stay within the window of changes we're already doing."

Van Gisbergen's new teammate Brock Feeney replaced the retiring Jamie Whincup, while Whincup has taken over from Roland Dane as team boss.

"I don't feel old, but having 19-year-olds around [Feeney] does drag the average age down and should be good," said van Gisbergen, 32. "It's going to help Brock getting into a car that is already sorted, and he'll be comfortable by the time Gen 3 comes around and we can develop that together."

The Supercars season starts with races tonight and tomorrow at Sydney Motorsport Park, where van Gisbergen won three times last year.

But he will be wary of Anton de Pasquale, who finished the season strongly at Eastern Creek, winning five races, earning seven poles and topping 10 sessions over the four race weekends.

Van Gisbergen will be focused on ensuring the Dick Johnson Racing driver doesn't skip away early in the championship — as van Gisbergen did last year, when he won the first six races on his way to 14 in total, earning his second Supercars title.

"I'm looking forward to seeing how we go. We certainly did a few laps there last year [Sydney hosted four consecutive rounds in October-November due to Covid] but the weather is the biggest talking point at the moment and we might have to deal with that.

"It wasn't raining that hard last time we were here and they cancelled the race. They've been trying to do everything to sort the drainage out and we'll just have to see how it goes.

"By the end of the four weekends [in Sydney last year], everyone's car was just about sorted and we were okay. The track isn't one of our strengths but we were still able to run up near the front.

"It's all about the preparation now — last season doesn't mean anything and I'll just do the best I can."

Van Gisbergen is keen to race again after being pleased with testing at Queensland Raceway recently.

"It was just good to get a hit-out in the car. It's pretty much the same as last year and it was good to get all the processes sorted," he said.

"We had a few ideas we tried at the test day but who knows what will translate to SMSP?"