Shane van Gisbergen at Sonoma Raceway. Image: Daylon Barr / Red Bull Content Pool
Last month, stock car racing convert van Gisbegren revealed he had only recently committed to left foot braking on every oval.
A spell in Legends Cars – not too dissimilar to an Aussie Racing Car – at Charlotte Motor Speedway has given van Gisbergen an opportunity to practice left foot braking too.
“I’ve committed fully doing it (left foot braking) on all the ovals now,” van Gisbergen explained on Stacking Pennies.
“It’s just learning about the crossover, how to balance from one to the other, not too much overlap, and those care are very sensitive to the brake pedal input.
“I think it’s a lot of fun but it’s beneficial to me as well.
“That’s what you guys did when you were 12 and stuff I haven’t done. I’m 20 years behind learning.”
WATCH: Supercars stars in Supercheap Auto ‘Police Chase’ Click here
It is the ultimate irony given van Gisbergen has been lauded for his ability to heel-and-toe on the road courses where he is the strongest. Now he is having to race like the rest of his rivals.
That was a similar adjustment McLaughlin had to make in IndyCar, coming from Supercars where he balanced both left foot and right foot braking.
“It is interesting,” McLaughlin told Speedcafe.
“When I jumped into IndyCar it was kind of like when you’re in a go-kart, your feet are just fixed, so you have no choice other than to left foot brake. You just do it, whereas in a Supercar you’ve got more freedom.
“I think the hardest thing for me was the muscle memory there, because I didn’t lack the strength to push the brake, but I lacked the finesse that I had with my right foot compared to my left.
“I still go back to right foot braking when I’m driving the Corvette, the GT3 car. An LMP2 car, I still right foot brake — and I think Shane does the same.
“It’s just where we feel more comfortable, but even in the Supercar days I used to still left foot that thing when I didn’t change a gear, so I wasn’t unfamiliar with it.
“It does take a little bit, especially when you’re doing it all the time and when you’re going through highspeed corners here in an IndyCar, or I imagine in NASCAR as well.
“Getting that delicacy down is definitely tough. I can imagine for him, it’s been tough to finalise because at those speeds, any little brake can cost you, like two or three miles an hour.
“That’s like point three of a 10th or whatever, which is huge in NASCAR and IndyCar, so I know what he’s going through in that regard.”
Shane van Gisbergen in a Legends Car sporting his famous #97. Image: Joe Ryan Racecars
Van Gisbergen is in the midst of his second year racing in the United States full-time off the back of a storied Supercars career.
Road courses and street circuits have brought van Gisbergen the most success, but it’s been a struggle on ovals – in qualifying and in the races.
McLaughlin said van Gisbergen can look at his IndyCar trajectory as some sort of solace amid an up-and-down debut NASCAR Cup Series season.
Much like van Gisbergen has trended upwards in NASCAR, McLaughlin took time to adjust to IndyCar.
McLaughlin enjoyed a breakout podium on his oval debut at Texas but spent much of his first season fighting to crack the top 10.
McLaughlin said van Gisbergen just has to accept that it will take time to get up to speed.
“It’s just part and parcel of doing it,” said McLaughlin.
“I certainly wish he were over here before me, because then I could have leaned on him during my season, and it’s probably nice for him to have me to talk to him about it as well.
“You’ve just got to roll with it. You have to tell yourself there’s a reason why you’ve been brought over here, and you’ve just got to trust that and trust your own ability and that it will turn.
“It’s kind of no different to how it sort of feels now for me and in the [IndyCar] championship. You go through a bit of a lull, but I haven’t forgotten how to drive, and that’s the same for him.
“He hasn’t forgotten how to drive. He’ll be fine, and if anyone’s gonna get a head around it, it’s gonna be him. He’s world-class.
“I’ve always said to him, this year is always the hardest year,” he added.
“Because you have some sort of hope and it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, it’s finally clicked’ and then you’ll have a bad race, and then you’ll just lose all your confidence again. It’s the same for IndyCar.”
Shane van Gisbergen at Sonoma Raceway. Image: Daylon Barr / Red Bull Content Pool
One of the inherent problems van Gisbergen has had is the qualifying metric.
The order for NASCAR qualifying is set by a combination of the previous race finish by owner (70 percent) and current owner points position (30 percent).
With one of the worst metrics of any full-time driver, it often means van Gisbergen is on track first and has the worst conditions to work with.
McLaughlin said van Gisbergen’s qualifying performance coupled with a car that’s not aerodynamically friendly in the pack puts the #88 driver at a sizeable disadvantage.
“Obviously, we do fewer ovals [in IndyCar], so whenever we qualify on ovals, the order is set by championship order. I’m kind of lucky in that regard; he’s probably not so much. I imagine if there were more road courses, his points would be a lot better,” said McLaughlin.
“The hardest thing on NASCAR right now, and they talk about all the time, is that they’re so interrupted by the dirty air and getting stuck behind cars. There aren’t many tracks where they can actually sort of move forward once they’re stuck back in the 30s.
“Once you’re down a lap for the day, and you don’t get the lucky dog, you’re screwed. And honestly, I don’t think Trackhouse has been that good either. He’s struggled more so because his car probably hasn’t been ideal, but if you look compared to his teammates, I thought he’s done a pretty decent job.
“The hardest thing for Shane has just been getting over that qualifying metric and being able to qualify a little bit better off and not being stuck in the 30s or the high 20s.
“I really think he’s been doing a really good job and you can see him getting better and better on the ovals. He’s going to ovals now in the back half of the year where he’s already been before earlier in the season. That’s where he’ll probably take his next step, which is pretty good.”
IndyCar driver Scott McLaughlin at Toronto. Image: Joe Skibinski
Van Gisbergen will continue his NASCAR Cup Series season at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400 on Monday, July 28 at 4am AEST.
The #88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet Camaro will be ninth out in the 39-car field in qualifying.
McLaughlin, meanwhile, will be in action at Laguna Seca. His race takes place on Monday, July 28 from 2:22am AEST.