Hill apologetic, Stone critical of Bates double bump

Cameron Hill has apologised for his wild pit straight run-in with Zach Bates that team boss Matt Stone unimpressed.

Hill was hit with a drive-through penalty over a dramatic moment with Triple Eight wildcard driver Bates during Sunday’s Ipswich finale.

After both drivers dropped down the order due to slow stops, Bates made contact with Hill while passing the Matt Stone Racing driver at the final corner.

In retaliation, Hill bumped Bates towards the inside of the road, with a second bump putting Bates’ #888 Camaro onto the grass. Bates fell into the clutches of Hill’s teammate Nick Percat, with contact at Turn 2 sending Bates off the road.

Hill was slapped with a drive-through penalty for his moves, while Percat was hit with a 15-second time penalty.

While insisting he was being roughed up, Hill apologised for the outcome. Hill and Bates, both Canberrans, play padel together.

“There were people running into others everywhere and I was getting knocked around,” Hill said in a social media video.

"But yeah, that was the story of our day really. We got the penalty and obviously just sort of brought it home from there.”

When asked about the incident on Supercars’ Cool Down Lap podcast, eponymous team owner Stone said: "I mean, that was probably one of the silliest things I've seen happen in a race car in a while.

"Cam got a penalty. Hopefully he’s learned his lesson that hot heads don't prevail.

“We had an unfortunate bad result, a couple of odd things in pit lane and then a few penalties. So, you take what it is and we get ready for the next one.”

Hill and Percat are now 12th and 13th in the points heading to the AirTouch 500 at The Bend on September 12-14. Tickets are on sale now.