With one of the most diverse and successful portfolios in motorsport, it’s hard to believe racing all-rounder Shane van Gisbergen has much more to learn.
But that’s exactly what the two-time Supercars champion is in the midst of doing, discovering a whole new discipline of racing.
Rally.
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The Kiwi has nearly two decades of experience on asphalt, winning numerous titles and races including the Bathurst 1000, Bathurst 12 Hour, and Bathurst 6 Hour.
Away from the pressure cooker of Supercars, van Gisbergen has found his vice sliding between trees across the countryside of Australia and New Zealand.
Despite his relative inexperience, van Gisbergen took a Rally of Auckland historic class win on his rally debut in his father Robert’s bright red Ford Escort RS1800.
A day later, he triumphed in the Battle of Jack’s Ridge rally sprint, the first time he’d competed in a top-flight rally car.
Now, a little under two years on from his debut, van Gisbergen is set to take on Rally New Zealand – the 11th round of the FIA World Rally Championship.
As van Gisbergen explained to Wide World of Sports, rallying is a world away from circuit racing.
“The way I’ve been describing to people, it’s like going to Bathurst for the first time and doing two laps in a rental car at 60 km/h and then you’ve got to go straight into the top 10 shootout. No practice, just flat out into it,” said van Gisbergen.
“The first time you’re driving the car, you drive it at road speed, and then the first time you’re pushing, you’re on the clock. There’s no warm-up, you’re just straight into it. It’s pretty crazy in that regard.”
Rally isn’t without its frustrations, however.
Unlike circuit racing, a relatively small mistake can have enormous consequences, as van Gisbergen found out when he slid off the road on his way to a win in Hawke’s Bay.
“Especially because it was such a stupid one,” he said of the error.
“Just a small off but a silly mistake with big consequences. That was simply all the stages were fast, open, and flowing, except one. I just didn’t change my driving style quick enough and made an error at the start of the stage.
“It’s hard. When I make an error or stuff something up, I think about it too much and think about processing it. You don’t get another go at that corner.
“If you stuff it up you’re never going to see it again, whereas in circuit racing you get a minute and then you’re back there again and you’ve got to fix what you did wrong last time.
“That’s the hardest thing is just clearing the mind, resetting, and just keep pushing because you’ve got the whole stage to go. It’s quite a different mindset.”
Rally New Zealand is a far cry from the one-day rallies he’s contested at home and in Australia.
The event takes in four days of competition, with a ceremonial start on Thursday followed by a special stage at the Auckland Domain backdropped by the Auckland Museum.
A total of 276.44 km of competitive stages will take place over the four days. Friday’s running is the longest of all with 157.98 km of running across six stages.
Before the competition gets underway, there’s plenty of preparation that must be done between he and his co-driver making for a week-long event.
“There’s three days of the rally. So, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, you do the recce (reconnaissance) of those stages,” said van Gisbergen.
“You have your notes, which you read through, but also you video it as well. Then when you go through your notes, you recheck them, and edit them as well.
“I don’t try to memorise any of the stages at all, just maybe some tricky bits or intersections, but otherwise you just go off all of the pace notes.
“I’ve only ever done one rally. The prep, it goes right into the night. So to do three days in a row for each day, it’s going to be pretty full on.
“It should be good. I’m just trying to keep it pretty lowkey to start with. For sure, it’s a long week, so I kind of need to store up the energy a bit and then straight into Bathurst too.
“It’s two massive weeks coming up. It’s amazing how an event starts on the Monday and then runs until Sunday. A full week long, but I’m up for the challenge.
“I’ve got an open mind to learning and keep building up the experience.”
Van Gisbergen has a knack of being competitive in whatever he drives. If it’s got four wheels, most expect him to be up the front.
However, his definition of success is simply finishing the rally.
“I’m sure the competitive side will come out once I’ve got the helmet on,” he said.
“But how I’m approaching it, as I said, I’ve got an open mind, learning and getting better and better each day.
“The way to get better is to do every stage and be there on Sunday. I just plan on building on what we’ve been learning so far and be there at the finish.
“Whatever I finish is probably not going to change what I’m doing in the future. It’s just a cool experience and I’m loving having a crack at rally.
“It’s my family background. I’d love to do more in the future. Circuit racing will probably always be my focus.”
That family connection will be in full effect at the rally.
“He’s been right into it,” van Gisbergen said of his father, Robert.
“It’s given him a new lease on life, or a new focus, this year. Obviously he hasn’t been able to do a lot of racing with me the last couple of years.
“Doing the rallies in New Zealand, the first one I managed to win, which was cool. To have that, that was our first rally together I guess. It was a pretty cool experience.
“We did a test day on the Monday after Pukekohe [Supercars] and Dad had his car there too, which was awesome.
“He’s driving again and he’ll be driving on Sunday at Jack’s Ridge too. It’s pretty cool.”
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