Cameron Hill has extended his lead in the Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Series to a healthy 160 points after recording second and fourth-place finishes in today’s two races at the NTI Townsville 500.
Hill started the weekend inside the top 10 during Friday practice but lacked the raw pace required to compete at the front. Following some well-judged adjustments, Hill was able to qualify third before winning yesterday’s opening race of the weekend.
Through races two and three Hill fought hard to maintain track position but also exercised a degree of caution, in an effort to solidify his points position.
In the final analysis, Hill fell agonisingly short of securing four consecutive round wins, finishing equal first on points for the event but being scored second on countback.
“Friday probably looked more positive than it felt, being second and seventh in practice. The car was outside the optimum setup window, and we knew there was work to do in order to put ourselves in outright contention,” said Hill.
“The fact we were able to tune the car on Friday night and come out with such a good package on Saturday, really shows how far we’ve come as a team at CHE Racing – I’m really proud of all the crew.
“It’s important for us to maintain momentum which we’ve done with this result.”
Hill said the championship situation was part of his thought process throughout weekend.
“In the races there was lots of fierce battling happening and the points position was on my mind for sure,” he said.
“I might have been able to battle more aggressively with Cooper or Aaron, but it was a case of making calculated decisions based on risk versus reward.”
While the race meeting may be over, Hill’s time behind the wheel is set to continue on the long drive back to Canberra.
“A side effect of our border dash is that we don’t have a truck driver, so I’ll be getting some more seat time over the next few days. It won’t be quite as exciting as the Porsche though!” Hill concluded.
Round four of the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Series is scheduled to take place at Sydney Motorsport Park from August 20-22.
Round Results Summary
Qualifying: 3rd
Race 1: 1st
Race 2: 2nd
Race 3: 4th
Overall: 2nd
Carrera Cup Top 10 Points
1. Cameron Hill – 510
2. Cooper Murray – 350
3. Harri Jones – 326
4. David Wall – 318
5. Aaron Love – 254
6. Matthew Payne – 250
7. Christian Pancione – 216
8. Michael Almond – 216
9. Craig Lowndes – 204
10. Luke Youlden – 195
