"I'm not here to win, no way," the two-time Supercars champion said ahead of his rally debut in Canberra.

"No shame in it. I'm here to learn and have some fun, and if we go well then it's a bonus. But I'm definitely not going to be winning."

It's a startling thing to hear from a man that makes a living reaching top speeds of 300km/h in Supercars and is fresh off reclaiming the championship lead after winning all three races on their last stop in Tasmania.

But when it comes to rally racing, van Gisbergen is a wide-eyed apprentice eager to take on a challenge. And he's doing it all with an ear-to-ear smile.

"I grew up around it. My dad was a rally driver and when I was young I was always going to rally events," he said.

"Dad put me into circuit racing, but I've always wanted to try rally. Now it's cool to have these opportunities."

When he's skidding round a bend in his Red Bull Skoda Fabia R5 on one of the rally stages in Kowen Forest this weekend, you may even hear the 32-year-old let out an excited 'woo'.

"Oh I've done a few of them," van Gisbergen chuckled.

"It's awesome. The feeling you get when you nail a corner, you've read the notes right, and driven through it correctly, it's pretty cool.

"That's why I want to do it. But I need to get my skill set up before I'm fully on the limit yet."

On Friday the field will run more testing before driving through the city around 6pm down Lonsdale Street. Then Saturday will feature seven stages over 109 kilometres and Sunday will have six stages of 73 kilometres.

Unlike circuit racing, in rally there are no laps and no stage is exactly the same. There are no other cars in the driver's sight. Instead you race the clock alone, and co-drivers deliver pace notes and directions throughout. And it's all very new to van Gisbergen.

"It's information overload," he said.

"Being able to listen is key. It's been really good with my co-driver Glen [Weston]. It's so different. He's not telling you how to drive, he's telling you what's coming, but you've done the reconnaissance and you've made the notes together.

"It's a pretty important job and it wouldn't be easy just looking down the whole way, that's for sure."

At last month's test run for the rally, Toyota Gazoo Racing driver Harry Bates told The Canberra Times van Gisbergen would "shock a lot of people".

Van Gisbergen's stage times reflected the reigning Australian rally champion may be correct in his prediction, but the Supercars star was committed to playing down any hype and enjoying the ride.

"Times really meant nothing. I got quite quick at the end, but I've done quite a few runs," he said.

"When it comes to the rally proper, that's when you're listening to your co-driver trying to do drive without knowing the road.

"We did a bit of maintenance to get the car ready. It's perfect for the weekend."

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