How crisis talks over Supercars’ Gen3 future could leave it without a paddle

By:

Andrew van Leeuwen

May 24, 2021, 2:24 AM

With Supercars’ Gen3 era on the horizon, a shift is set to take place – in more ways than one – but, as has become clear in recent weeks, the plan to bin the stick and use paddles with electronic assisted shift has been met with fierce opposition

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Albert Park, March 2017. Max Verstappen climbs into Shane van Gisbergen’s Holden Commodore Supercar and starts prodding buttons and pushing pedals. It’s just a Red Bull photo shoot, but the layout of the cockpit piques Verstappen’s interest. He asks van Gisbergen if he left foot brakes. The Kiwi explains that with these cars you not only need to brake with your right foot, but you also need to heel-and-toe on the downshifts.

Verstappen, at that point already a third-year Formula 1 driver, shoots a puzzled look back at van Gisbergen.

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Andrew van Leeuwen

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Andrew van Leeuwen is Motorsport.com's Australian Editor and provides award-winning coverage of Supercars. He started his career working for Australasian Motorsport News in Melbourne, working his way into the top digital editor role before relocating to Mainz, Germany, in 2012. During his three-year stint in Europe he covered a number of series, including the DTM, while working for Autosport, before returning to Australia as part of Motorsport.com's global expansion in early 2015. Alongside his Motorsport.com commitments Andrew is one-third of the successful Below the Bonnet podcast. He lives in Perth with his wife Anne, kids Nico and Billie and chihuahua Coco.