KEY POINTS:
Shane van Gisbergen's sanctuary is the inside of a 1300kg V8 Ford. It's where he feels most comfortable and hurtling it around a track is all he's ever wanted to do.
At 18, he's achieved it more quickly than most aspiring drivers and is clearly seen as one
of the future stars of V8s. In the past two days, he's proved why, finishing third fastest in Friday's practice, qualifying 11th for the grid and running ninth on the track before puncturing with only three laps of yesterday's race one remaining.
It's all part of the learning curve for a rookie driver.
Kayne Scott would love to be sitting in the same position as van Gisbergen. At 39, he's more than twice his young rival's age but is also into his first full season in the V8 Supercars with Team Kiwi Racing.
He doesn't have the luxury of running for a big-money two-car team but, after multiple successes in other classes, being near the back of the field is not an experience he enjoys nor is used to.
"It's unbelievably difficult after being accustomed to winning races your whole career, in every class you contest," Scott says. "We can dominate weekends in the New Zealand V8s but the following weekend, I find myself at the other end of the field.
"It's really hard to cope with but if you look far enough back, all new entrants in this series go through that. I went into it knowing that was the challenge ahead of me.
"You struggle with that, you really do. There's a lot of soul searching that goes on."
There was plenty of that on Friday when the airbox caught fire as Scott headed out for practice. The team needed to put in a new engine, meaning they missed most of the four practice sessions before getting in six laps towards the end of the day.
Even though Scott qualified second-last on the grid yesterday, he kept out of trouble and finished a creditable 17th. His goal had been to slot in somewhere between 20th and 25th.
With a budget of close to $2.5 million, TKR simply can't compete with the bigger teams that spend as much as $10 million. They won't win races but a lot of drivers don't.
"For us, it's about getting out there and being a part of it," Scott says. "The first goal is to finish every race. We will have our weekends and there are guys out there we want to beat.
"But you are very mindful of where your speed is and you don't take any unnecessary risks. [The crash Jamie Whincup had that put him out of the weekend] would be a season-crippling problem for us."
TKR's aim is to give New Zealand drivers a chance. Team principal David John would love to see Scott picked up by a bigger team.
Van Gisbergen was in the drivers' seat of the TKR Ford for seven races towards the end of last season. It was a deal organised by Stone Brothers Racing to give their young charge some experience in the Supercars and he surprised everyone by picking up points in five races, especially considering he was driving what many described as 'a dog of a car'.
He's with a multi championship-winning team in this, his first full
season and has already showed what he's capable of. He's a smooth driver who doesn't make too many mistakes and has a maturity which belies his years.
Championship leader Jamie Whincup is impressed by what he sees and said: "He's got awesome potential. If he wants to be at the front of the V8 Supercar championship, it's going to be up to him.
"He's got awesome natural ability and he's got a great team in Stone Brothers. Everything is there for him to be the best out there," he said, before remembering his own aspirations.
It's now up to Pukekohe born and bred brothers Ross and Jimmy Stone to help get him there. One of the main things is reminding him that he hasn't achieved anything yet and van Gisbergen is required to turn up to work every day where he works as a signwriter.
"We try to keep his feet on the ground," Ross Stone says. "It will be another six to eight months, or even the end of the year, before you really know [how good he's going to be]. There are some good signs there, no doubt about it.
"Some drivers seem to have more time to do things. You either have it or you don't and he has it."
One of van Gisbergen's greatest attributes is the fact he wants for nothing more than to race V8s.
He doesn't see it as a stepping-stone to IndyCar racing or Formula One but already feels comfortable in a class with big budgets and even bigger egos.
"It can be daunting [racing his idols] but I treat it like any other class of racing. It's just you and the racecar out there and you go as fast as you can," he says. "V8s is all I have ever wanted to do and to be here so early is awesome."
The next step is winning races but that will surely come with time. Whether Scott ever gets there is not so certain.
