‘Not going to pretend it’s all roses’: Supercars champ explains bizarre media stand-off

Reigning champion Shane van Gisbergen says it was a “real kick in the teeth” to hear criticism of his post-race behaviour where he refused to answer questions from a Supercars reporter.

The Red Bull racer explained he was simply adopting a “if you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say it at all” strategy when repeatedly answering questions by stating he did his “talking on the track” at the Newcastle 500.

Van Gisbergen drew the ire of Supercars greats Mark Skaife and Garth Tander for his treatment of Supercars reporter Chad Neylon who opened Sunday’s press conference after the Kiwi’s last grasp victory in race two.

But it was the words from Skaife that bothered van Gisbergen, as he revealed the five-time champion was “someone I look up to and respect”.

“I am not going to pretend it’s all roses when it is not,” he posted on social media.

After Sunday’s race, van Gisbergen cut short an on-track interview with Fox Sports’ Jessica Yates before heading into a press conference where he gestured for Neylon to stop talking, and refused to answer questions in an awkward stand-off.

Third-place getter David Reynolds, who had been engaged with his phone, broke the tension by making a joke about getting beer before Neylon told journalists “if anyone else would like to ask Shane a question, be my guest”.

“For me that’s a bit of respect,” Tander, van Gisbergen’s former Bathurst 100 winning teammate, said.

“Chad Neylon always asks fair and balanced questions.

“You’ve got to have a little bit of respect for the other people within the industry as well and how they’re going about their job.”

Skaife said van Gisbergen, who did later provide short answers to three questions on Sunday, had a “duty of care” as the reigning champion.

Van Gisbergen said his clipped answers were an attempt to not be too critical after stating his Friday comments on the heat inside his Camaro “maybe bit me in the ass”.

“My purpose of writing this is not to ‘explain myself’ nor to expect sympathy for the public bashing that some of us drivers get, I guess I’ve always been told like most of us as kids ‘If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it at all’,” he posted on social media.

“I will never forget I’m in an extremely fortunate position of being a V8 Supercar driver, my dream job.

“It’s not a secret I haven’t been a fan of the way the Gen3 car feels and drives, and behind closed doors I’ve been pretty critical of things and tried to make it better, firstly with feedback to the category in the prototype testing and now with my team trying to make the race spec car to my liking.

“The category seems to think our complaints and gripes with the car will ‘make better racing’ if we are struggling and we are told to be positive and show the sport in a good light, which of course I understand the last part. I try to be as neutral as I can with my critiques of the car, I act with the intention of representing the drivers trying to make the car better for everyone.

“As much as I don’t have a good feeling with the car at the moment it drops perfectly into my strengths – Hard to drive, on edge, hard on tyres. Perfect for me! So what am I complaining about?

“I guess I want not only myself, but all drivers to be getting out of the car raving about how awesome and fun it is to drive. Which is something that’s not really happening now.

“Over the weekend I probably said a bit too much publicly on Friday about the heat of the cars, although it did prove fruitful getting extra cooling for the drivers. Many still struggled, including myself with the heat.

“I understand it’s my duty to represent the sport in a good light as champion, I will do that to the best of my ability by being myself off track, racing hard on track for my team members, team partners and our fans.

“It was a real kick in the teeth hearing those comments from a five-time champion – someone I look up to and respect. I am not going to pretend it’s all roses when it is not.”

Van Gisbergen endured a controversial Newcastle 500 weekend, where his Race 1 victory was stripped after a protest lodged over his team’s use of dry ice in his driver’s seat door – and not the passenger side as Supercars regulations stipulate.