Supercars championship leader Shane van Gisbergen and two-time Tasmania SuperSprint champion Craig Lowndes have talked up the chances of a Triple Eight trifecta at Symmons Plains this weekend.
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The duo will line up alongside Supercars champion Jamie Whincup with the aim of replicating the result from last year’s crash-affected Saturday race, which saw Triple Eight fill the podium in a 15-car affair.
Van Gisbergen, who sits 49 points clear of Erebus’ David Reynolds in second, will take mixed results into the Tasmanian round after a perfect start in Adelaide and an indifferent weekend in Melbourne.
“We just need to keep the momentum going on our side,” the 28-year-old said.
“The three cars are pretty quick and if we all get it right we should be all up the front.
“You’ve obviously got to qualify up front and then the strategy is key as well… it’s quite cold and the track is really good on tyres.
“You’ve just got to get (the strategy) right, make sure you pit at the right time and get to the front.”
Despite leading this year’s championship, van Gisbergen’s Tasmanian record is outshone by his two teammates, who have won 20 SuperSprint races between them.
Lowndes – who has nine Tasmanian race wins to his name – turns 44 in June but remains a force to be reckoned with at Symmons Plains.
The three-time Supercars champion shared van Gisbergen’s hopes of a Triple eight trifecta but asserted such a feat would not come easy.
“The Team Penske guys have shown that they’re going to be fast and reliable like they were last year,” Lowndes said.
“And you look at Erebus with Dave Reynolds - both their cars were quite strong at Albert Park, so there’s a lot of other competition out there, but we believe that if we can get the right setup on the day we’ll be definitely strong.”
Lowndes, who finished fourth overall at last year’s SuperSprint, attributed his success at the sub-one-minute-lap track to consistency around the bends.
“I think it’s because it’s only got seven corners on it - really for me it’s maximising every corner.
“You don’t have a lot of opportunity to make up time, you’ve got to get every corner right and that hairpin, which is basically a 180 but it also drops away, we change the steering racks in the race cars just for that corner, so it really is a unique corner.”
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Hamish Geale
Hamish Geale is a senior reporter at The Examiner. Got good news? Email: hgeale@examiner.com.au
Hamish Geale is a senior reporter at The Examiner. Got good news? Email: hgeale@examiner.com.au
