Cameron Hill leaves Perth with strong points haul

Cameron Hill has left Carco.com.au Raceway with a solid points haul after Round 4 of the Repco Supercars Championship in Perth.

His strong run came despite a setback in Friday practice when a steering component failed, sending the Supaglass Racing Camaro heavily into the wall.

The #4 Camaro required a front-end rebuild, and the Matt Stone Racing crew worked all Friday evening to get the car ready for Saturday's racing where Hill bounced back superbly, qualifying inside the top 10 for Race 9.

The Bosch Power Tools Perth SuperSprint featured elimination qualifying, and Hill made the final stage to record a 54.798s to place sixth and further built on two prior appearances in the Top 10 Shootout.

Pitting for four tyres in Saturday’s event meant a slow pit stop, but it meant a faster race car. He tried a big move in the latter stages of the race that was unsuccessful, dropping him outside the top 10 to finish 11th.

Hill again qualified strongly but was unluckily bumped out late in the second stage of qualifying as he started 11th. Despite a slow start, the Matt Stone Racing team’s strategy combined with strong race pace left the Canberran knocking on the top 10 to replicate his result from the previous day.

The great qualifying and race pace displayed by Hill bodes well for the next round of the Repco Supercars Championship at Hidden Valley Raceway for the Darwin Triple Crown on June 15-16.

QUOTES

Cameron Hill
#4 Supaglass Racing, Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

“It was pretty exciting racing out there,” said Hill.

“We had a pretty fast Supaglass Camaro this weekend. We had a good start to the weekend in practice where we were very fast before it all got turned upside down when we had a toe link issue. I lost steering and we hit the concrete wall.

“I was a bit worried that the car was going to be quite damaged, but the boys did a great job. They hooked in and didn't get much sleep, but when we rolled out for qualifying on Saturday, we had a super fast car and we were in the top 10.

“I can't thank the team enough again for rallying to overcome that speed bump and it just shows what this team is capable of.

“I qualified well in both sessions to be sixth and 11th as I just made my life really hard by not getting good starts. This forced me to really push hard to make up some ground.

“The decision to take four tyres probably hurt us in Saturday's race and then some over enthusiasm from me. We lost the top 10 result at the end, but I've got to have a go.

“I had another bad start in Sunday’s race, however we had a fast race car, a good strategy, and the boys did an unreal pit stop, so we managed to get back to 11th after dropping down a few.

“I’m really happy with the weekend. The signs are promising that we're going to be more and more consistent towards the top 10 in qualifying, which is the key to getting the results.

“Thanks to the team at Matt Stone Racing and really looking forward to the next one in Darwin.”