Cameron Hill has expressed his surprise at the variable track and weather conditions that greeted the drivers for Porsche PAYCE Carrera Cup Australia Round 5 practice at the Townsville street circuit today.
Hill, who ended up fourth-fastest in the second of the two sessions, said wet weather was not something he or the team expected heading into the weekend.
“It’s the dry season here in tropical Queensland, and you don’t expect it to rain here at this time of the year,” he said.
“It was on and off misty drizzle all day, and the track kept fluctuating between wet and dry.
“It was an unexpected challenge and kept us on our feet, but I’m very happy with how we responded and tuned the car accordingly.
“The track was very greasy in the morning session, and in the afternoon session, the times continually improved as the track dried out.
“We made some good improvements, especially with the braking performance, and I think we can make some more setup gains overnight.
“With the limited dry running today and Carrera Cup not having raced here since 2015, I’m tipping tomorrow’s qualifying session to be a mixed bag; it will reward the teams that can do the best job of adapting to the track as it evolves,” Hill concluded.
Carrera Cup qualifying comes up at 8:50 tomorrow morning, with Race 1 at 12:35pm. Both sessions will be shown live on Fox Sports and Kayo, while Race 1 will also be shown on Channel 10.
