Hill raced through pain barrier after 47G crash

A brave Cameron Hill fought through pain to deliver solid race finishes and a career-best championship finish following his heavy qualifying accident in Adelaide.

The Matt Stone Racing driver finished 18th and 16th at the VAILO Adelaide 500, finishing 12th overall. It marked a major jump on his rookie season, when he finished 23rd.

Hill, however, had to graft his way through the two 250km races following his 47G accident in Friday afternoon qualifying, which sent MSR, Team 18 and Penrite Racing into overnight repairs.

The Canberran was one of three drivers, along with Richie Stanaway and David Reynolds, to strike major trouble at the 200km/h sweeper on Friday. On Sunday, Jaxon Evans became the fourth.

Stanaway and Evans were both ruled out with concussion, the former suffering a 52G impact, while Reynolds also walked away from his own 46G hit.

"We're all done for season 2024 and it was a huge weekend in Adelaide, but a bit bruising for me," Hill said.

"It was looking pretty good on Friday - we had a really fast car, and I was feeling so comfortable that I was actually quickest through Turn 8, but then I got it wrong.

"That crash was probably the biggest I've had in my career. And it was a real bell ringer. I was a bit cut up because I just knew what it meant for the boys.

"But this team is incredible - they just got stuck in, worked on it and put the car back together. And honestly, when I rolled out for practice on Saturday, it felt really good."

Having run on adrenaline on Saturday, Hill's pain set in on Sunday, but he lifted himself off the canvas to end the year with pride, and just 179 points out of the top 10. Last year, he was 706 points away from the top 10.

"We had a real crack in the race and actually made up a lot of spots having pitted early, but the tyre life wasn't there for us and we finished 18th. But that was alright considering where we were 24 hours before," Hill said.

"In Sunday’s race, I was really worried about going the distance and the first 10 laps were quite painful. So I just sort of stayed out of trouble and then I got a bit better as the race went on.

"Then on the last 20 laps, I actually felt really good and we managed to punch out a few good times, and somehow we finished 16th and finished equal 12th in the points.

"All in all, it was a successful sophomore season for me in Supercars and I can't wait to come back next year with Matt Stone Racing."