Van Gisbergen not underestimating NASCAR

The three-time Supercars champion will make his NASCAR Cup Sequence debut as a part of Trackhouse Racing’s Mission 91 programme in Chicago in July.

Quite a few components ought to assist ease the Kiwi’s transition from Supercars to NASCAR, beginning with the similarities between the 2 technical packages of their present kinds.

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The truth that it’s a avenue course, fairly than an oval, can even be a big benefit for van Gisbergen – much more so than if he was debuting on an everyday street course.

Not solely is the circuit new for the entire NASCAR drivers, however avenue circuits are commonplace in Supercars, the present calendar that includes Newcastle, Albert Park, Townsville, Surfers Paradise and Adelaide.

Whereas meaning van Gisbergen has intensive avenue circuit expertise, he’s nonetheless not anticipating to be mechanically aggressive on debut.

“I assume it’s onerous to simply bounce in a single race, particularly [as] they do a couple of [road course] a yr now in order that they’re fairly sharp,” stated van Gisbergen.

“I’ve clearly taken discover the final couple of months and have tried to observe. They’re not billies. It’s not like there’s solely two or three good street course racers anymore. The highest 10 or 15 guys can drive and switch proper now.

“It’s going to be very tough.”

Van Gisbergen’s versatility is well-known with success having are available nearly the whole lot he’s tried his hand at.

He loved a stint as a factory-backed GT driver with the likes of McLaren and Mercedes, which yielded a Bathurst 12 Hour win and a GT World Problem Europe title in 2016.

He then returned to open-wheelers to win the New Zealand Grand Prix, after ranging from pitlane, in 2021.

Extra not too long ago he has been competing on dust, scoring a WRC2 podium at Rally New Zealand final yr, whereas he has an everyday programme within the NZ Rally Championship this yr.

He additionally spent the summer time competing in sprintcars in NZ.