Cameron Hill has recovered from a potentially disastrous weekend at the Penrite Oils Sandown 500 to produce a remarkable 10th place finish.
With good friend and Repco Supercars Championship debutant Cameron Crick alongside Hill for the 2024 Endurance season, the pair managed to make up 12 positions throughout today's shortened race after starting from the back of the field.
It was a mighty effort from both drivers, who faced plenty of adversity throughout the 154 lap race, having sustained damage during the first half of the race and finding themselves dead last at multiple points during the first half of the race.
Consistent driving from the pair and some carnage around them, along with a bold strategy and faultless pit stops from the Matt Stone Racing outfit helped the pair navigate their way up the order and into the top 10.
Having shown good pace earlier on in the weekend during Friday’s practice sessions, Hill missed the sweet spot during the all-important Qualifying and to end the session in 22nd.
A promising start to the race saw Hill make a place up off the line to settle into 21st before the #4 SP Tools Chevrolet Camaro sustained damage not long into the race.
Despite a couple of early pit stops, both Hill and Crick put in decent stints to slowly work their way up the field ahead of the final 20 laps of the race following a number of major incidents that had happened earlier.
The most telling moment of the race for Hill came in the final laps when the safety car was brought out late in the race, allowing Hill back into the pits for one last change of tyres - the brilliant cheap stop putting the Canberran out in P14 with 18 laps to go.
When the race eventually resumed, Hill found himself in P11 after a number of drivers took stops during the safety car intervention, which turned into 10th after another incident brought out the safety car on the restart.
As the race restarted for the final time with just a few minutes remaining, Hill held onto his top place during the remaining couple of laps to seal 10th - capping off an amazing recovery drive for both drivers.
The impressive result also saw Hill make up another position to 14th on the overall standings, while closing in on a number of drivers ahead of him.
The Repco Supercars Championships now heads to Mount Panorama for the highly anticipated Repco Bathurst 1000, which takes place on October 10-13.
QUOTES
Cameron Hill
#4 SP Tools Chevrolet Camaro
“There was a lot of action out there and we took advantage of a bit of strategy to get us back in the game,” said Hill.
“I had a really good couple of stints towards the end and we managed to finish 10th. A top 10 result here at Sandown is an awesome effort.
“I'm really happy that Cam could debut in the top 10 as well. That was awesome. And I can't thank the team enough.
“The last pit stop with mint. That's what got us the result as I think they were the fastest in the lane. So credit to the whole Matt Stone Racing team.
“The SP Tools Camaro was a jet in the dry, and now it's onto the big one ..."
