Van Gisbergen: Feeney will overcome bully rivals

Feeney made an impressive start to life as a full-time Supercars driver at Sydney Motorsport Park on the weekend.

He qualified for both Top 10 Shootouts, finished the two races ninth and 11th and even mixed it with the front-runners for a stint in the Sunday race.

However it was also clear in both races that rivals were keen to assert some dominance over the teenager by rubbing panels.

On Saturday's race Feeney looked too conservative at times in the pack, while on Sunday he clearly had his elbows out more and he bashed doors with the likes of Will Davison and Jack Le Brocq.

Van Gisbergen was left deeply impressed by Feeney's rookie weekend, particularly in terms of his pace.

And while he concedes Feeney was subject to some on-track bullying over the weekend, he backs the rookie to quickly learn how better equip himself in combat.

"[Feeney's debut was] really good," van Gisbergen told Motorsport.com.

"Obviously the information is mainly going one way, but he's really open and the enthusiasm is really cool and impressive. Both Shootouts, good results and he stayed on track all weekend.

"You get bullied, as you expect to be. But I think he's driving really well and it won't take long before he's up the front and racing, knowing where to place his car better to stop getting pushed around."

Part of that, says van Gisbergen, is learning to pick your battles.

"You do that against a guy like [Cam] Waters, I saw Waters get him and then Broc loses three spots," he said.

"So there are certain guys... you just learn over time who to mess with and who not to mess with. And then who you've got respect from and who you don't. That just comes with time."

Van Gisbergen didn't just have a new teammate for the SMP weekend, but a new engineer in Andrew Edwards and team boss in Jamie Whincup.

There were clear signs of promise for the relationship with Edwards with a strategic masterclass to win on Saturday, and a remarkable recovery to sixth place from a lap down on Sunday.

As for teammate-turned-boss Whincup, van Gisbergen admits it was odd to be discussing big picture issues rather than dialogue about car set-up.

"It's interesting, I had some thoughts and the person you go to is Jamie," he said. "Where you're used to normally talking car stuff. And even on Friday we were talking car stuff, he was helping me with my driving.

"I don't think he wants to be the new RD just yet. He's still taking things in. I see him writing a lot down and thinking a lot. Nothing is implemented yet, he's still trying to be a sponge for it all.

"But it's been good to see. It didn't seem like he was missing not being in the car. And he's obviously an asset to Broc and I, but also the team as well."