Repco Supercars Championship rookie Cameron Hill will enjoy a large contingent of support at what he acknowledges as his home round at Sydney Motorsport Park this weekend.
A proud Canberran, Sydney Motorsport Park marks the closest visit by the Repco Supercars Championship to the nation’s capital leading to an influx of support for this event.
Not only will this be his pseudo home event, but Sydney Motorsport Park marks a return to night racing as the Gen3 specification Supercars race under lights for the first time.
It is expected to be a spectacular and challenging affair as the race format differs compared to any of the previous rounds this year. A 200km race on Saturday night requires a refuelling stop, while Sunday’s event is 150km requiring just a tyre change.
Hill came back strongly across the Townsville weekend by running near the front in Sunday’s race until damage caused by a hit in the rear earlier in the race forced an unscheduled stop. The performance adds to the rookie’s confidence ahead of Sydney.
Strategy will be key according to Hill due to the mixed format as Sydney Motorsport Park’s high tyre degradation is due to add another dimension.
Qualifying speed is an area Hill is aiming to improve and being vastly experienced at Sydney Motorsport Park will be of benefit.
Hill will pay tribute to fellow Canberran Dale Brede after his recent passing. Brede was a mentor to Hill during his climb up the motorsport ladder and the last driver from the nation’s capital to race in the Repco Supercars Championship.
A return to a two-day format, the Repco Supercars Championship action will be rapid this weekend starting with two practice sessions, qualifying and the opening race on Saturday.
QUOTES
Cameron Hill
#35 Truck Assist Racing, Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
“I have a lot of people coming up to watch me this week as it is essentially my home round being closest to Canberra, which will be great,” Hill said.
“The only night race of the year, it will be spectacular and the Truck Assist Racing Chevrolet Camaros will look good under lights. I raced at the return of night racing at Sydney Motorsport Park back in 2018 when the light was still temporary and it was harder to see then, but it’s certainly not like that now.
“Although we didn’t get the results we wanted in Townsville, it was still a real positive weekend. Saturday was tough with a bad qualifying position, which made the race a long one. Qualifying stronger was the focus on Sunday and we did that. I managed the tyres a lot better as well and we were running at the front thanks to a safety car. The race pace was really strong and I was really happy after Sunday, all we need now is just that little more in qualifying to give us a boost at the beginning of the races.
“It's the closest thing I have to a home track, whether that translates to an advantage or not I’m not actually sure as everyone in Supercars is at a very high level and have raced at Sydney Motorsport Park more than me. It is a track I’m familiar with, so we can focus on the little details to improve one lap pace, there’s every chance we can have a solid weekend.
“The circuit has been notoriously bad for tyre degradation, but there have been a few sections resurfaced so it’s going to be interesting to see if that helps, also the cool temperatures should help as well. I think it will be similar to Townsville, how you manage your tyres and strategy will be key.
“It’s going to be interesting because the Saturday night race features refuelling, but it’s not as long as Townsville. Sunday’s event might be a sprint, but it’s still quite long so it will be something different for the engineers to analyse the strategy to find the quickest way home. I think one thing that we’ve seen this year is that clean air is super powerful, so the engineers will have to weigh up the ideal strategy versus being stuck behind a rival.
“Dale was a mentor to me and it’s terrible news to hear of his passing so I’ll definitely be thinking of him this weekend when we’re out there racing.”
SCHEDULE
Saturday, July 29
Practice 1 12:15pm
Practice 2 2:10pm
Qualifying Race 18 4:45pm
Race 18 7:05pm
Sunday, July 30
Qualifying Race 19 12:35pm
Race 19 3:30pm
