Cameron Hill has recovered from a setback in today’s qualifying session, to secure a starting position inside the top five for this weekend’s Porsche PAYCE Carrera Cup Australia round at the Bathurst 1000.
After a strong performance in practice this morning, Hill felt he had the pace to contend for a top-two position. However, a vibration part-way through qualifying necessitated a pit stop for Hill’s pit crew to check the car.
“The car was strong as soon as we rolled it onto the track for practice this morning, and I was happy with its performance and handling,” Hill said.
“In qualifying, the bounce of the ball just didn’t quite work for us. Our pace on the first set of tyres was decent, but when we came into the pits to change to a fresh set, I had a massive vibration as soon as I re-joined the track.
“We believe it was probably just rubber building up on the tyres, but at such an unforgiving circuit, it wasn’t worth risking a crash, so I came back into the pits for the team to check the car over.
“By that stage, I only had time for two flying laps when I probably needed a third one to maximise the car’s performance.
“Fifth on the grid for tomorrow’s race isn’t a bad outcome, but I know we have the speed to be further up. The good news is that tomorrow’s race is quite long, so there will be opportunities to make up positions.”
Tomorrow’s opening Carrera Cup race will be held over a 16-lap distance, and commences at 1:40pm.
