Van Gisbergen details Saturday struggles

Shane van Gisbergen was consigned to chasing fastest lap bonus points amid a testing run at Pukekohe.

Van Gisbergen missed the podium for the first time since June’s Darwin finale.

The points leader came home fifth on Saturday, with Will Davison winning the 41-lap sprint.

Van Gisbergen qualified seventh for the race alongside teammate Broc Feeney.

The reigning champion stopped on lap 25, five laps after Davison pitted from the lead.

He emerged seventh in the queue, and picked off Scott Pye after a late restart.

Anton De Pasquale was his next victim, but that was as good as it got.

The 33-year-old later admitted he again tried to claim fastest lap bonus points with victory out of reach.

He did so, albeit at the death on the final lap by 0.055s.

“We changed three tyres in today’s race so we could try and get as close to our starting position and also claim the fastest lap and the bonus points that come with that,” he said.

"We had a crack at the fastest lap because we really struggled to pass.

"My car was struggling with the high-speed areas of the track, and that’s what we’ll be focusing on tonight because we need to be better in those areas.

"Even though the safety car came out towards the end of the race, it was hard to follow in the high-speed areas and I only managed to pass Anton late in the race."

Van Gisbergen is now armed with just two more opportunities to win at Pukekohe.

The iconic circuit will cease motorsport operations in April 2023.

"Unfortunately, in qualifying P7 was all we had," he added.

"We’ll have a sit down with the engineering group tonight, make some changes and hopefully do better tomorrow."

Van Gisbergen will carry a reduced 493-point series lead into Sunday.