Barely four weeks after a disastrous crash threatened to derail his 2018 campaign, Cameron Hill will return to the track for Round 3 of the Porsche Wilson Security Carrera Cup at Phillip Island this weekend.
In a display of pure dedication, Hill’s Southern Star Truck Centre/Anytime Fitness Porsche 911 GT3 – critically damaged in a start-line crash at the Australian Grand Prix – has undergone a complete re-shell in an around-the-clock effort to resurrect the Canberra driver’s season.
The repair job, undertaken by the Melbourne-based DNA Racing outfit, will be completed with just a day to spare, the car scheduled for collection by Hill’s team on Wednesday before parking up at the circuit on Thursday.
The 21-year-old says his small family team have continued their relentless work in the face of adversity.
“After all our efforts to compete in Carrera Cup this season, we were determined to make sure the Grand Prix crash was not going to ruin our year,” Hill said.
“While the re-shell has been done by an outside organisation, we’ve continued working tirelessly to ensure all the ingredients are in place for me to complete the season while also managing our Formula Ford customer program.
“There’s a round of the national Formula Ford Championship this weekend at Queensland Raceway where we’ll be running Lachlan Mineeff’s car, so it’s been a mammoth effort from lots of different people to ensure we can run competitively across two different venues on the same weekend.”
Hill said his confidence has not been affected by the AGP shunt.
“If anything, it’s just made me even more motivated to bounce back and ensure I can deliver results to reward everyone in the team for their efforts,” he said.
“Physically, I’m pretty much back to normal – my back was tweaked slightly in the crash, but it’s back to about 90 per cent now.
“Unlike the first two rounds, Phillip Island is a circuit where I’ve raced before, and we did a test day there in the Porsche at the start of the season so we have a benchmark to work from.”
In a newly-introduced format, this weekend’s event will see the Carrera Cup cars on track for a pair of 25 lap (45 minute) races.
“I’ve always enjoyed longer-distance events, and I’m looking forward to seeing how the Porsche performs over an extended run, especially in areas such as tyre degradation,” Hill said.
“It will be a good opportunity to continue our improvement curve and learn more about the car.”
Carrera Cup Round 3 Schedule
Friday, 20 April
10:40 – Practice 1 (30 min)
13:50 – Practice 2 (30 min)
Saturday, 21 April
11:35 – Qualifying (20 min)
14:15 – Race 1 (25 laps)
Sunday, 22 April
12:20 – Race 2 (25 laps)
TV Coverage
All sessions will be shown live on FOX Sports 506.
