Van Gisbergen wary of new Triple Eight 'dynamic'

A "new dynamic" at Red Bull Ampol Racing has Shane van Gisbergen prepared to tackle his title defence from a new angle.

Van Gisbergen enters 2022 not only with a new teammate in Broc Feeney, but a new race engineer as well.

David Cauchi, who left for Grove Racing, has been replaced by Andrew Edwards on van Gisbergen’s #97.

It marks the third different race engineer for van Gisbergen in as many years.

The van Gisbergen-Cauchi relationship soared in 2021, with the New Zealander winning 14 races en route to a dominant title.

It comes after Grant McPherson engineered van Gisbergen between 2016 and 2020 before he left for Walkinshaw Andretti United.

Triple Eight unveiled its 2022 car yesterday

Edwards arrives from Brad Jones Racing, having worked alongside multiple race winner Nick Percat.

The driver everyone will be chasing in 2022, van Gisbergen knows he’ll have to work even harder this season to defend his title.

"The team obviously has a new look this year," he said.

"Not only with Broc as our new driver, but we both have new race engineers stepping up which will bring a new dynamic.

"I’m excited to work with Andrew this year. He’s no doubt a talented race engineer who’s been on my radar.

"I think once we get stuck into the first few rounds, we can strengthen our relationship and hopefully get the results we’ll work hard for."

The arrival of Feeney, who is still just 19, is a marked difference to what van Gisbergen had in the other garage for the best part of a decade.

Jamie Whincup was van Gisbergen's teammate between 2016 and 2021, although the latter won the head-to-head in their time five to one.

Supercars broadcaster Mark Larkham believes the personnel changes may disrupt van Gisbergen’s momentum.

"I think the staff changes and the ownership changes at Triple Eight are going to be a real test of the true depth of this team," Larkham told Supercars.com.

"They not only have their team principal and owner departing, but also key members of their engineering team, David Cauchi and Wes McDougall.

"There are good guys coming in, Andrew Edwards and Martin Short, and what is really great for the team is engineering manager Jeremy Moore and team manager Mark Dutton.

"Is that going to disrupt SVG’s momentum? Because let's not forget, right at the centre of every motorsport business is the engineering of the race car.

'We’re not here to make up the numbers this year': Whincup

"You don’t get it right, you’re out of the window and the day is over."

Red Bull Ampol Racing’s new boss Whincup was adamant his team will have to work hard to maintain its standing at the front of pit lane.

"We’re not here to make up the numbers this year, that’s for sure," said Whincup, who handed his famous #88 to Feeney.

"We have two reigning champions in the seats of our cars, and we once again occupy the first two garages of pit lane.

"So it’s up to us to work hard as a team and ensure our drivers dig deep and achieve the best results possible in 2022."

Van Gisbergen will test the Gen3 Camaro prototype at Queensland Raceway on Friday.

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