He has been on the sidelines since his Porsche Carrera Cup race victory in the ill-fated Australian Grand Prix in March, but Cameron Hill will finally make his return to racing at the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 this weekend, competing in the Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia (TGRA) 86 Series Bathurst Cup as an official Toyota guest driver.
Hill competed in the highly-competitive one-make series in 2016 and ’17, winning a total of 13 races on his way to top-three series results in both seasons.
While Hill has since progressed to Carrera Cup, he said he was humbled by the chance to return to his old stomping ground as a representative for the Toyota brand.
“When Toyota contacted me and asked if I was interested in driving one of their guest cars at Bathurst, I jumped at the opportunity,” Hill said.
“I thoroughly enjoyed the two seasons I spent in the 86 Series, and the things I learned on and off the track were instrumental in enabling me to advance to Carrera Cup.
“In a year where I haven’t been able to do much racing, I’m very privileged to be able to represent Toyota, especially at a large and prestigious event such as Bathurst.”
While Hill is aiming to be competitive, he said he won’t be approaching the weekend with his usual, single-minded focus on winning.
“My role this weekend is not to try and win at all costs, it’s to be a professional ambassador for Toyota and to provide guidance to the newer drivers in the series, many of whom have never raced at Bathurst before,” Hill said.
“I remember my first race at Bathurst in 2016 and how daunting it was, so hopefully I can use some of that experience to help the rookie drivers enjoy the weekend, learn and improve.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’ll still be trying to race somewhere in the lead pack and hopefully enjoying some fun battles – the quality of drivers in the field is very high, so I’m expecting the racing to be highly entertaining.”
Hill will steer one of the TGRA 86 entries, prepared by Neal Bates Motorsport. Practice will be held on Thursday, with racing on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Toyota 86 Series Bathurst Schedule
Thursday, 15 October
10:45am – Practice 1 (20 min)
2:30pm – Practice 2 (20 min)
Friday, 16 October
11:00am – Qualifying (20 min)
2:25pm – Race 1 (8 laps)
Saturday, 17 October
12:50pm – Race 2 (8 laps)
3:20pm – Race 3 (8 laps)
Sunday, 18 October
9:55am – Race 4 (8 laps)
