MATTHEW McCutcheon is the Kiwi young gun who genuinely is a Shane van Gisbergen protégé and even runs the #97 accordingly.
McCutcheon contested the opening two rounds of the Dunlop Series with Eggleston Motorsport, getting within 0.0444s of the Super3 Sunday pole last time out in Perth.
He might be missing from the grid this weekend in Townsville but expect to see plenty more of the 20-year-old.
Speaking with V8 Sleuth, McCutcheon opened up on the van Gisbergen mentorship which he receives.
“Obviously I am very fortunate to be in that position, especially after how well he has done in NASCAR,” he said.
“I’m really lucky, Shane is really awesome and has been so influential.
“He still checks up on me and makes sure that I’m going alright and keeping focus, it’s always good to have someone like him in your corner.”
Their connection dates back six or so years to the dirt racing scene, through van Gisbergen’s father Robert.
“Funnily enough, I got to know Robert in quarter midgets,” said McCutcheon.
“He just started randomly helping our car and us out at the time.
“We had no idea who it was because he always introduced himself as ‘Cheese’ which is his nickname.
“We just started calling him Cheese and then at the end of the year he said, ‘come around to my house, I’ve got a few tyres to try running and see if it makes it a little bit quicker’.
“We turned up and saw all of the trophies and were like, hang on a second, what’s going on here? Obviously we put it together pretty quickly.
“Shane really only came on the scene once I left speedway and then when I started racing Formula Vee, because that’s obviously his bread and butter, tarmac racing.
“Ever since then we’ve been pretty close which is amazing, especially for the jump to come over to Aussie and race in Super3.
“It’s not an easy step so to be able to lean on him for advice here and there has been amazing.”
McCutcheon went on to race an SVG-owned Formula Ford before graduating to the New Zealand Toyota 86 Series.
As for his Townsville absence and beyond?
“The team and I have come to the agreement mutually that we’re going to miss Townsville and then we’ll see what the rest of the year brings,” said McCutcheon.
“My dream is to become a Supercars champion.”
