Crampton, who is the NHRA Road to the Future Award recipient, swapped his GEICO/ Lucas Oil Dragster for the passenger seat for hotlaps of Sydney in the TEKNO Autosports VIP Petfoods/ Lucas Oil Holden Commodore.

The Morgan Lucas Racing driver said he is in awe of the Van Gisbegen’s skill.

“It was definitely special to ride with Shane – he’s a class act and a gun driver. It still blows my mind how much is going for these V8 Supercar drivers at a track like this,” Crampton said.

“I get to go 500km/h on a regular basis, but that’s nothing compared to what these guys do around corners. It’s just amazing that they can do it with 25 other cars on the track.”

Crampton, was particularly stunned by the handling and braking of the VIP Petfoods/ Lucas Oil V8 Supercar. 

“Lateral Gs are something I don’t usually experience, so I was hanging on and enjoying every minute of it. You see those chicanes coming up and you brace yourself, but these cars just bounce over them and keep going,” Crampton said.

“Those walls come up pretty quick. It’s so impressive what they can get these racecars to do. The driving and engineering is just amazing.”

The Sydney NRMA 500 consists of two 125km races over 37 laps tomorrow, with a 250km, 74 lap feature on Sunday.