Motorsport: Young gun right at home

Shane van Gisbergen struts his stuff during practice yesterday for the Hamilton 400. Photo / Paul Estcourt

Unlike a certain young Irish golfer who crumbled under the pressure of trying to win a golf Masters' green jacket, another youngster, V8 Supercars driver Shane van Gisbergen is relishing the chance to strut his stuff.

The Kiwi, in his third season of V8 racing, is keen to hit the streets of Hamilton for round three of the Supercars championship.

He has two things on his mind. One is to improve on his previous performances at his home event and get Kiwis Ross and Jimmy Stone's first round win at the New Zealand event.

Stone Brothers Racing has tasted success in the past with Marcos Ambrose when the race was held at Pukekohe but has not had much success since.

The feeling in the camp, and especially with van Gisbergen is this year could be the year for success on home soil.

"I'm looking forward to it [the weekend] that's for sure as I haven't done too well at home yet," said van Gisbergen.

"I'm not letting the pressure get to me, or worry me, as I also have the championship to think about and get back in the hunt for the title. We didn't have a good race at Adelaide and I need the points.

"Ross and Jimmy have been walking around the workshop getting everyone fired up so there is a little bit of pressure but everyone's just keen to get to Hamilton and go racing."

Van Gisbergen has proven he can mix it with the best in the category. At the end of last season he'd managed nine podium finishes, and came close to his first win at the last round in Sydney when his car spluttered out of fuel while leading with just a few corners to go.

He comes to New Zealand with confidence on the back of his round podium finish for the non-point's scoring weekend in Melbourne as part of the Australian Grand Prix.

"To be on the podium again after our run at Clipsal is promising so I'm really looking forward to heading to my home track Hamilton this weekend," he said.

The Hamilton street circuit is one he likes and despite not having the best of luck over the past three years, he is keen to get into action.

"I like the place. It's fast and there are places to pass. I know we've just come from a street circuit but Melbourne is not really a normal street circuit. It's very wide.

"Hamilton's a bit different, being a lot narrower in places but it's a good place to race," said Van Gisbergen.

There are a few changes for this year's event with fuel loads and modifications to the chicane; however, the biggest curve ball will be the use of the soft tyres. It will be the first time a soft compound has been used on the Hamilton tarmac, and while teams will have a certain amount of data available, it won't be until the first practice that mechanics and engineers will know exactly what's going to happen.

"We're running on the soft option and that'll make it different at Hamilton. It's going to be pretty wild during qualifying with all that extra grip," said Van Gisbergen.

Points after two rounds
* Jamie Whincup: 567
* Mark Winterbottom: 423
* Garth Tander: 363
* Alex Davison: 348
* Fabian Coulthard: 345
* Craig Lowndes: 336
* Shane van Gisbergen: 327
* Rick Kelly: 321