Co-driver could hurt van Gisbergen hopes
NEWZealand motor racing legend Greg Murphy fears Shane Van Gisbergen’s prospects in the Supercar endurance rounds could be scuppered by his co-driver.
The enduros part of the season gets underway this weekend with the Sandown 500, which is followed by the Bathurst 1000 and Gold Coast 600.
It’s the time of year when the wins mean more to the drivers, not only because the victories are more prestigious, but because there are championship points up for grabs.
Qualifying took place at Sandown yesterday, with Van Gisbergen qualifying seventh on the grid.
While Van Gisbergen is the main challenger to Jamie Whincup over the endurance rounds, Murphy says there are question marks over Frenchman Alex Premat, who he’ll share car No 97 with.
‘‘Alex is very good, but he hasn’t been in the car all year,’’ said Murphy, who is a four-time Bathurst winner.
‘‘He drove it recently (in practice), but he hasn’t done a lot of racing all year, he’s capable, but he’s got to make sure he’s focussed on what job he has to do.’’
Premat was a full time Supercars driver for Garry Rogers Motorsport in 2012 and 2013, but failed to make an impact in either season, finishing 27th and 19th respectively in the championship.
His main focus is now working for a company in Las Vegas, where members of the public can pay a fee to take part in races in one of their cars.
Because of his involvement with this, the 34-year is racing considerably less than he has in the past.
‘‘He’s capable, but he’s going to have to really make sure he’s focused on what job he has to do and do it well,’’ Murphy said.
‘‘He’s going to have to not make mistakes and I think there are a couple of other guys in better positions than he is, like Paul Dumbrell (Whincup’s codriver), who has been driving in the development series and you can’t say that’s not a more reliable scenario than what Alex has.
‘‘But considering where Alex has been this year, not doing a huge amount and not being in a Supercar much, he’s in the right team to make sure he does it right.’’
A poor co-driver can destroy a full-time driver’s championship aspirations as there are so many points up for grabs.
But conversely, the next three rounds are where someone can get back into contention.
‘‘Sandown changes the dimensions of how you go about it,’’ Murphy said.
‘‘Having a good co-driver is critical and things can go wrong.
‘‘If you have a drama in one of those races, then bang, that’s 300 points you’re not going to win.
‘‘In normal races if you’ve done badly, you can recover the next day and not lose so many points over the weekend.
‘‘Getting through these with a decent amount of points is absolutely critical because there’s the run home afterwards with Pukekohe and then the final round in Sydney.
‘‘If you get through the enduros in good shape, especially in someone like Shane’s case, who’s definitely a championship contender, then it’s a dogfight to the finish.
‘‘Shane will be fast in Pukekohe and Sydney.
‘‘It will come down to other things and everything falling into place.’’