SHANE van Gisbergen’s former Trackhouse Racing teammate Daniel Suárez has lifted the lid on the Kiwi’s road course racing expertise, claiming he is beatable as the NASCAR Cup Series returns to the Circuit of the Americas this weekend.

After finishing sixth at COTA last year, the three-time Supercars champion went on a tear, claiming five successive road course victories in Mexico, Chicago, Sonoma, Watkins Glen and the Charlotte Roval.

For Suárez, who moved to Spire Motorsports for 2026 after being replaced by Connor Zilisch, road courses have been a happy hunting ground in the past.

He secured his first of two Cup Series victories at Sonoma in 2022, while last year, he won the Xfinity Series race at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

However, alongside van Gisbergen last season in the Cup Series on road courses, he registered finishes of 36th, 19th, 29th, 14th, 35th and 7th.

“Listen, SVG is very good, he’s been doing road course racing for a long time,” said Suárez.

“He’s very experienced, as well.

“So, it’s a perfect combination, right? Like, he’s been doing this for a long time.

“He has probably the most experience on the entire field combined in road course racing.

“But guess what? He’s human.

“So, as far as I know, every human here is beatable.

“So, we’re working very, very hard to get there. I know SVG actually fairly well, and I know he has a lot of strengths, but he also has weaknesses.

“I know that there are ways to get there, but you have to be very good, as well.

“I know I can get there. I have been there actually in the past.

“But like I said, he’s human, and I believe that not just myself, but there is many organisations out there, many drivers, that are working very hard to catch up on him.

“And listen, he’s been doing a good job, not just as a driver, but also, he has brought a lot of new ideas from Australia about how to set up the car.

“It’s not just about him jumping into any race car and winning. It’s not just like that. It’s him making the car do things that he’s used to in Australia.

“He has done an amazing job; credit to him. But it’s just an opportunity for us to continue to learn from that and continue to get better.”

The green flag for the race is scheduled for 7:30am AEDT on Monday.

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