Shane van Gisbergen wins race 1 of the OTR SuperSprint. Photo / Photosport.co.nz
Shane van Gisbergen wins race 1 of the OTR SuperSprint. Photo / Photosport.co.nz
Shane van Gisbergen isn't letting the hype of Pukekohe Park Raceway's swansong get in the way of chasing his third championship title.
Pukekohe is hosting its final Supercars event this weekend, and van Gisbergen's interest in Supercars began with watching Greg Murphy put all-comers to the sword in the early2000s, when he won four out of the first five rounds held at Pukekohe.
Murphy still holds the record for the most wins with nine, Jamie Whincup has six and van Gisbergen has five.
"I'd love to get a good result, but I'm trying not to get too excited. I just want to treat it like any other round," said van Gisbergen.
"I'm trying not to get too caught up in all the celebrations."
Van Gisbergen will be joined on the grid by two other Kiwis in Andre Heimgartner and Chris Pither. All three are aiming to get their hands on the Jason Richards Trophy, which goes to the winner of the round. It honours the Supercars career of the New Zealander who lost his battle with cancer in 2011.
"It's going to be interesting and pretty sad," said Heimgartner. "It was the place I learned how to drive a manual car and my first hot lap with my Dad.
"That's where my passion for Supercars was ignited, watching Greg Murphy and Mark Skaife and others race. Some pretty cool memories.
"I'm looking forward to the weekend. I'm feeling optimistic and if we can line everything up we'll be in contention for a win."
Van Gisbergen leads the race for the 2022 title and arrives at Pukekohe with a 500-point buffer over Cam Waters with Will Davison 19 points further back and Anton De Pasquale breathing down his neck three points in arears.
Shane van Gisbergen wins race 1 of the OTR SuperSprint. Photo / Photosport.co.nz
If van Gisbergen wins the title this year he will have equalled another Kiwi's title haul, Scott McLaughlin, which would put the pair just behind the most successful Kiwi V8 racer, Jim Richards, who claimed four.
The series leader has the most Kiwi Supercars wins at 70, but is still well shy of Whincup's total of 124, and 20 behind third-placed Skaife.
All three New Zealand drivers, van Gisbergen in particular, will have hometown advantage due to the passionate crowd who will be all out rooting for Kiwi success. The defending Supercars champion has dominated Pukekohe since 2016, winning at least one race across each weekend.
Among others to keep an eye on over the weekend will be Waters, Davison, De Pasquale and Chaz Mostert. All have been able to challenge van Gisbergen and on occasion get one over him. However, consistency has been a problem for the quartet, with Davison the driver with the best chance of usurping the flying Kiwi over the weekend.
The Australian has had two wins, 12 podiums and eight poles this season and has won twice at Pukekohe in the past.
The weather is predicted to play a part in the weekend's proceedings. While this might dampen the mood of crowd on the hill, it will play into van Gisbergen's hand as he's acknowledged as the rain master. Rain at Pukekohe has always livened things up and this weekend should be no different.
Pukekohe is due to cease being a motorsport venue in April next year. Owners of the land the track is situated on, Auckland Thoroughbred Racing, has decided that it will not renew the lease to hold motorsport from April next year. They want to expand their horse racing facilities and need the land.
