Triple Eight pair not worried about Mercedes-style fallout

The pair are currently 1-2 in the standings, Whincup leading van Gisbergen by 41 points. And during yesterday’s first race at Queensland Raceway, they went door-to-door with the third T8 car of Craig Lowndes in the closing stages as van Gisbergen came through with better rubber during the second stint.

But despite the tense on-track battle, neither van Gisbergen or Whincup are worried that they will head down the same path as Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg in Formula 1.

“We smashed a headlight together [at Albert Park] and got a rap, so we have to be careful,” said van Gisbergen.

“I’ve been enjoying it. All the racing has been clean and hard, and just racing like we normally would. But in the back of your mind you know it’s a team car, and you’ve got all the guys at the shed and back at the factory that are relying on you for a good result.

“For me, it’s been great so far, we’ve been up the front and racing hard. It’s been clean so far, so happy days.”

Van Gisbergen added that passing his team-mates, as he had to do in the closing laps of today’s race, doesn’t require a different approach to racing anyone else.

“Not at the time. I think I’m normally quite calculated, these days, with those sorts of moves,” he said. “I try and be clean and race everyone hard and fair.”

Whincup echoed van Gisbergen’s thoughts. “We’re all good. It’s been six months we’ve been battling hard, so I can’t see any changes,” he said.

“It’s important to understand that it’s not just about us. There’s going to be some big battles coming from other teams. We’re looking everywhere else, we’re not just worrying about each other.”