Tekno is back, says van Gisbergen

Shane van Gisbergen says his Tekno Autosports Commodore is back to being one of the form cars in V8 Supercars, after a break-through third place finish at the Sandown 500.

The Kiwi had been going through a troubled spell with the single-car team, a technical problem leaving the Commodore unresponsive to set-up changes and unable to run near the front of the field.

Pre-Sandown test the key

According to van Gisbergen, the pre-Sandown test session the team did at Queensland Raceway uncovered the root of the problem, and at last weekend’s opening enduro the car was back to being a front-runner.

“Just being on the podium is awesome after the last few rounds we’ve had,” he said.

“Full credit to the team, they did such an awesome job turning things around.

“We had a massive test day last weekend, it was good to get a feeling back in the car where I was happy. Come here, and we’re straight away back to normal, going how we used to.

“We’ve been really struggling, going backwards every race, so to be able to push on with [the Prodrive] guys, it’s good to be back.

“This whole weekend we’ve done a set-up change and then felt it. Driving out of the pits and the car’s different at Turn 4, it’s an amazing feeling. We didn’t have that for a long time.

“Little tweaks made a big difference, and just felt good all weekend. So to get in the races and be able to push the whole time, not be looking in the mirror the whole race, it’s an awesome feeling.”

Tander a late-race concern

In the closing stages of the Sandown 500, van Gisbergen’s podium spot first came under pressure from Prodrive’s David Reynolds, and then from a hard-charging Garth Tander, who closed right in on the Tekno car.

Speaking after the race, van Gisbergen admitted that he didn’t see Reynolds as a threat, but was keeping an eye on his mirrors should notoriously ruthless racer Tander have decided to have a go.

“I was fine until [Tander] got in front of Reynolds, because Reynolds is never going to pass you,” van Gisbergen said.

“But Garth is pretty aggressive, he’ll divebomb you for 80th. So I was watching the mirrors and waiting for the big move.

“It never came, but the focus was on him for the last 10 or so laps.”