Solid Sunday helps Cameron Hill recover from 50th milestone race

Cameron Hill has overcome a challenging milestone race in Surfers Paradise to end the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 on a positive note.

The Canberran entered the penultimate round of the 2024 Repco Supercars Championship on a rich run of form that has seen him in the hunt for the top 10 on the overall standings.

His return to the picturesque beachside city didn’t get off to the strongest start as he was unable to get the most out of the #4 Chevrolet Camaro in either one of Friday’s practice sessions.

With Hill set to tick over 50 races in the main game on Saturday afternoon, he enjoyed a decent run in Qualifying that saw him just miss out on the top 10 shootout in the final stages - eventually settling for P16 overall.

Unfortunately Saturday’s milestone was not the result he was hoping for - a promising first stint where he made up multiple positions on the opening laps ended up with him facing the wrong way after an error when pushing hard to make a pass.

While he was able to get racing again, he eventually crossed the line in P23.

Sunday proved a brand new day for the Matt Stone Racing driver, and although he qualified in P20, the day’s dramatic 250km race proved far more successful.

Avoiding any damage on an opening lap pile up, Hill instantly made up a handful of positions and found himself not far outside in the top 10 and carried on making up ground during the opening stints.

A slow second pit stop undid some of Hill’s good work in his opening two stints, but he still managed to finish 14th and end the race as one of the biggest movers out the whole field.

Just one race remains on the 2024 calendar, with the highly anticipated VAILO Adelaide 500 to host the season finale next month.

QUOTES

Cameron Hill
#4 Chevrolet Camaro

“It was a tough weekend for us,” said Hill.

“Saturday, we had a decent qualifying and were improving after a difficult Friday. We were running okay in the race but then I made a mistake and had to do a bit of reversing, which got the attention of a lot of people out there and was pretty cool for the fans.

“Obviously it was not the result that we were looking for, but I thought the pace was still okay, so we felt pretty good about Sunday. Unfortunately we didn't qualify anywhere near good enough and had our work cut out for us.

“We dodged all the carnage on the first lap. And then from there, we were actually having a pretty good race until a slow pit stop on that last one costs us a few spots due to a cross-threaded nut.

“All in all, it was a pretty good recovery from 20th to finish 14th and much better than last year here on the Gold Coast for me.

“The big positive for me was that I rolled out a little bit off the pace, but every session I just felt like I got more and more confident. By the end of the weekend, our pace in the race was definitely good enough for top 10.

“That was definitely something that we're really happy about. And when we come back here next year, hopefully we can start a bit quicker."

Cameron Hill produces incredible Sandown 500 top 10 finish

Cameron Hill has recovered from a potentially disastrous weekend at the Penrite Oils Sandown 500 to produce a remarkable 10th place finish. 

With good friend and Repco Supercars Championship debutant Cameron Crick alongside Hill for the 2024 Endurance season, the pair managed to make up 12 positions throughout today's shortened race after starting from the back of the field.

It was a mighty effort from both drivers, who faced plenty of adversity throughout the 154 lap race, having sustained damage during the first half of the race and finding themselves dead last at multiple points during the first half of the race. 

Consistent driving from the pair and some carnage around them, along with a bold strategy and faultless pit stops from the Matt Stone Racing outfit helped the pair navigate their way up the order and into the top 10. 

Having shown good pace earlier on in the weekend during Friday’s practice sessions, Hill missed the sweet spot during the all-important Qualifying and to end the session in 22nd.

A promising start to the race saw Hill make a place up off the line to settle into 21st before the #4 SP Tools Chevrolet Camaro sustained damage not long into the race. 

Despite a couple of early pit stops, both Hill and Crick put in decent stints to slowly work their way up the field ahead of the final 20 laps of the race following a number of major incidents that had happened earlier. 

The most telling moment of the race for Hill came in the final laps when the safety car was brought out late in the race, allowing Hill back into the pits for one last change of tyres -  the brilliant cheap stop putting the Canberran out in P14 with 18 laps to go. 

When the race eventually resumed, Hill found himself in P11 after a number of drivers took stops during the safety car intervention, which turned into 10th after another incident brought out the safety car on the restart. 

As the race restarted for the final time with just a few minutes remaining, Hill held onto his top place during the remaining couple of laps to seal 10th - capping off an amazing recovery drive for both drivers.

The impressive result also saw Hill make up another position to 14th on the overall standings, while closing in on a number of drivers ahead of him.

The Repco Supercars Championships now heads to Mount Panorama for the highly anticipated Repco Bathurst 1000, which takes place on October 10-13.

QUOTES

Cameron Hill
#4 SP Tools Chevrolet Camaro

“There was a lot of action out there and we took advantage of a bit of strategy to get us back in the game,” said Hill.

“I had a really good couple of stints towards the end and we managed to finish 10th. A top 10 result here at Sandown is an awesome effort.

“I'm really happy that Cam could debut in the top 10 as well. That was awesome. And I can't thank the team enough.

“The last pit stop with mint. That's what got us the result as I think they were the fastest in the lane. So credit to the whole Matt Stone Racing team.

“The SP Tools Camaro was a jet in the dry, and now it's onto the big one ..."