Strategy the name of the game for Cameron Hill in Townsville

As the Repco Supercars Championship prepares for its traditional trip to Far North Queensland for the NTI Townsville 500, Matt Stone Racing’s Cameron Hill is excited by the variables set to occur by returning to the longer format.

Hill enters the round off the back of a great performance in Darwin where he once again made a Top 10 Shootout and finished ninth in Sunday’s event, further solidifying the gains made since his maiden season.

Townsville’s Reid Park Street Circuit is a hybrid venue featuring a mix of temporary and permanent sections where Hill has displayed strong pace. The longer format of twin 250km events is one Hill excels in as proven by scoring a top five at Bathurst in February.

Although the twin 250km races provide plenty of opportunity to move forward through strategy, Hill is targeting a more consistent run in qualifying across both days and in turn the races as well.

Prior to the round, Matt Stone Racing confirmed Hill’s long-time friend Cameron Crick will join him for the endurance events at Sandown and Bathurst. Crick has been a frontrunner in Super2 and makes his Supercars debut alongside Hill this season.

With Crick impressing during some recent testing at Queensland Raceway, Hill is excited for what the two endurance events hold.

Another change is new sponsorship on the #4 Matt Stone Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 as Personalised Plates Queensland (PPQ) come onboard for Townsville. Hill’s entry will feature ‘personalised plates’ and a new livery for the trip up north.

The NTI Townsville 500 will commence on July 5-7 as Event 6 on the Repco Supercars Championship calendar.

QUOTES

Cameron Hill
#4 Personalised Plates Queensland Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

“It’s really cool to have PPQ for Townsville. A Queensland company is getting behind me at a local event and hopefully everyone gets a good view of the personalised plates on the back of my Camaro.

“It’s important that while things are going well to execute a full weekend. It’s a similar story to the last few rounds as I feel like I’m driving the car better than last year and our base set-up is strong at the moment, proof of this was the team scoring a dual top 10 in Darwin.

“The field is super competitive and it’s quite punishing if you make mistakes. I’m still pretty new and you can't be perfect all the time, but it’s just about making sure even the bad days are in the top 10 as we see with the Red Bull guys at the moment. If they get it right they’re winning, but if it’s not their day they are still pretty close to the podium and that’s what we’re striving for.

“It’s still important to qualify well, though with the longer races in Townsville you can move your way forward, there will be more strategy, tyre deg and other variables too. Townsville is exciting in that regard. I always enjoy the longer format.

“The strategy is definitely going to make or break your day. The undercut will be powerful, but a price is paid later in the race. Safety cars need to go in your favour too. There’s a lot of variables and you can only control what you can, but it’s always nice to get some luck.

“I think we all want more events. The short turnaround has been challenging logistically due to the distance between Darwin, Townsville and Sydney. I think we all like more racing and the shorter time between rounds, but these events close together makes it hard for the teams.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun doing the enduros alongside a good mate in Cam. He’s been a mate of mine for such a long time, I think he has a lot of talent and he’ll do a great job. Cam’s a rookie, but we’re doing everything we can to try and get him up to speed on the specifics of racing in Supercars.

“Cam’s driven the car a few times now and the good thing is he looks comfortable, the speed is good, which is important.

SCHEDULE

Friday, July 5
Practice 1: 12:15pm AEST
Practice 2: 3:10pm AEST

Saturday, July 6
Qualifying Race 13: 10:15am AEST
Top 10 Shootout Race 13: 12:05pm AEST
Race 13: 2:40pm AEST

Sunday, July 7
Qualifying Race 14: 10:05am AEST
Top 10 Shootout Race 14: 12:05pm AEST
Race 14: 2:40pm AEST