SVG's opinion of his kiwi counterparts

Despite Championship challenges from three talented New Zealanders in the V8 Supercars Championship, TEKNO's Shane van Gisbergen says Greg Murphy is still the Kiwi king when it comes to motorsport.

Van Gisbergen has been one of the most talked about drivers in the field after finishing second in the title fightlast season, and the recent announcement he would head to Triple Eight next year, with team boss Roland Dane adding an additional V8 Supercar to the fold to fit the 25-year old alongside six-time Champion Jamie Whincup and three-time Champion Craig Lowndes.

The Darrell Lea STIX Commodore driver opened up to Auto Action for this week's edition, talking about his Perth feud with Scott McLaughlin, the other kiwis in the field and how some drivers get rattled on-track.

Van Gisbergen named four-time Bathurst 1000 winner Greg Murphy his childhood hero, and talked about his relationship with 'Murph' and his competitors.

"I went to Pukekohe every year and he was the one I always went for," van Gisbergen told Auto Action of Murphy, conceding their relationship was not as good when racing.

"It's pretty tough racing in SuperTourers and it wasn't the same. It wasn't very good there, but now he's stopped, he's back to normal again. He doesn't like getting beaten."

Despite being out of V8 Supercars full-time since 2012, Murphy is undoubtedly still the kiwi king in van Gisbergen's opinion, despite a strong contingent of up-and-comers.

"He's the biggest name. He's still a bigger name than Scotty [McLaughlin] and Fabian [Coulthard] and myself by a long way."

Last year at the Perth event, van Gisbergen's relationship with McLaughlin was placed under the microscope. The two had an incident on track, with the Volvo driver claiming his competitor stuck his middle finger up at him while making a pass. McLaughlin called him a bad sport, and later at the Gold Coast labeled him desperate and aggressive in the press conference.

However, the STIX Commodore driver says it's in the past, and took the blame for the Barbagallo clash.

"He understands. We've gotten better and better. But that Perth mix-up was a mistake on my part. I thought it was (McLaughlin's teammate Robert) Dahlgren. I went past him with my hand up in the air (and gave him 'the bird') and then after the race Scotty comes rushing into the truck, going off and I said to him, 'What are you on about?' So that took a bit of recovering from - no one likes getting the middle finger, I guess.

"But he's all good now. He got a bit big last year, but he's just an awesome kid now. He's just so grounded and he's pretty bloody fast, too."

Van Gisbergen complimented soon-to-be teammate Whincup's talents as a racer, and suggested what separated him from the field.

"He's pretty tough," the kiwi said of the all-time Champ.

"You can see when you come up against some drivers, who I won't name, you can tell they don't have a racing brain. They can drive a car fast, but when you're behind them, you can get inside their head and pass them within a couple of laps, even though you are the same speed as them.

"But when you're behind Jamie, you might have a faster car, but he thinks a lot and places his car in the right places. He's really smart at racing as well [as] being a fast driver. He's really cool to battle against, he's so clean but also onto it as well."

As his profile soars as a V8 Supercars contender, van Gisbergen is coming out of his shell.

"Sometimes I get a little bit shy, I guess, always conscious of what people think ... when you have the helmet on you're a bit more yourself."

Van Gisbergen will be looking for his first win at Symmons Plains this weekend, with the V8 Supercars tackling the Tyrepower Tasmania SuperSprint from Friday. Last year he managed two seventh place finishes and an 11th, something he will be looking to improve this time around.

Stay tuned to FOX SPORTS from Friday to Sunday for live coverage of the Tyrepower Tasmania SuperSprint. Fans can also follow the action on Ten and One with highlights packages each day.

Click here for the TV schedule, and here to buy tickets to the March 27-29 Championship event in Tasmania.