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Teen debut, Super2 crown: Waters' Supercars journey

03 Aug 2021
August 3 marks the 27th birthday of Tickford ace Waters
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August 3 marks the 27th birthday of Cameron Waters, who moved into third in the 2021 points standings after the last event in Townsville.

Waters, who made his main game debut as a teenager in 2011, scored multiple wins on the same weekend for the first time in his career.

It marked another key career milestone for the Tickford Racing driver, who burst onto the Supercars scene as a 17-year-old in Bathurst.

The Mildura-born driver started his racing career in go-karts in 2001 before moving into open wheelers.

Waters vs van Gisbergen: Last nine laps

He claimed the Australian Formula Ford Championship crown in 2011 with seven race wins, the year after he won the category's the Rookie of the Year title.

That year, he announced himself on the Supercars stage when he won the Shannons Supercar Showdown, a reality TV program run by Kelly Racing. Waters bested nine other drivers to win the drive alongside Grant Denyer.

A decade on, Waters has firmed as a title hopeful, and has already claimed three wins this season.

October 9, 2011: Bathurst debut

Waters’ Supercars journey began when he combined with Denyer in a Mars-backed Kelly Commodore for the Bathurst 1000, but the pair failed to finish the race after Waters hit the wall at Forrests Elbow and damaged the car.

November 19, 2011: first Super2 start

He returned with the Kellys for a maiden development series assault at Sandown. He finished 15th in Race 1, before improving to an impressive seventh in Race 2.

Waters returned to the Bathurst 1000 in 2012 to drive with Jesse Dixon, the winner of the 2012 edition of the Shannons Supercar Showdown. Waters and Dixon were the youngest driver combination in the race's history and finished 20th.

February 28, 2014: first Super2 pole and podium

After finishing 10th in the 2013 development series with Minda Motorsport, Waters arrived in 2014 with the backing of Ford Performance Racing.

He wasted no time getting up to speed, claiming pole for the season-opener in Adelaide and finishing second behind Ash Walsh.

April 5, 2014: first Super2 race win

Just over a month later, the teenager won the opening race at Winton, and again drove at Bathurst in 2014 alongside Jack Perkins. The duo finished 12th in the epic race won by stablemate Chaz Mostert.

December 7, 2014: first Super2 round win

Waters ended the 2014 season with a round win on the Sydney Olympic Park streets to finish runner-up to champion Paul Dumbrell.

September 13, 2015: first main game podium

Amid a dominant run to the 2015 development series title, Waters earned the plumb call-up alongside Mostert for the 2015 enduros.

The duo combined to finish second behind Mark Winterbottom and Steve Owen at Sandown, marking Waters’ maiden championship podium finish.

Mostert’s horrific Bathurst crash saw Waters miss out in Bathurst, and he returned to the #6 alongside Russell Ingall for the Gold Coast enduro event.

November 7, 2015: first solo main game start

With Mostert absent injured, Waters was called up for his maiden solo main game starts in the #6 Pepsi Max Falcon.

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Waters completed the Pukekohe and Phillip Island events, his best result a ninth in the Phillip Island opener.

December 6, 2015: dominant Super2 title claimed

Owen took over the #6 for the Sydney finale so Waters could focus on his development series title hopes.

In Homebush, Waters finished eighth and second to seal the title, having won 10 of the season’s 16 races.

March 5, 2016: full-time solo main game debut

He earned a full-time drive with the now-named Prodrive squad in 2016 in a Monster-backed #6 Falcon.

In Adelaide, he finished 15th and 12th in the two sprints, before finishing an incredible fourth in the Sunday race, which was marred by wet weather.

May 7, 2016: first main game pole

Ahead of just his eighth start, Waters collected his first ARMOR ALL Pole Position after playing to the conditions at Barbagallo Raceway.

Waters was the beneficiary of the session affected by wet weather, with 11 cars recording a time before a red flag caused by Michael Caruso stopped the session with 13 minutes remaining. He would finish the race 13th.

September 17, 2017: Sandown 500 victory

Waters’ stunning Sandown win alongside Richie Stanaway was his first podium as a full-time driver in the main game.

In a shortened race, Waters defied a racy Scott McLaughlin to win the Sandown classic, helping Prodrive add to its 2006 and 2015 wins.

September 27, 2020: first solo main game race win

Over three years later, Waters finally won again, this time at The Bend Motorsport Park.

It was his first solo main game win on a day McLaughlin clinched the 2020 championship.

October 17, 2020: Bathurst 1000 pole

Waters’ finest hour came on the mountain last year; he sailed to a stunning pole position in the Top Ten Shootout.

A day later, he pushed Shane van Gisbergen all the way in an enthralling day-long battle for victory.

May 9, 2021: victory at The Bend

Waters claimed career win No. 3 at The Bend in May, this time turning the tables on van Gisbergen to add his name to the 2021 winners’ list.

July 18, 2021: Townsville double

Waters' monster Mildura skid

A WD-40 Townsville SuperSprint double saw Waters become just the third driver after van Gisbergen and Mostert to win multiple races in 2021.

The Saturday win was Waters’ first in Townsville, and Tickford’s first since Winterbottom in 2015.

The Sunday win, with Waters again defying van Gisbergen, saw Tickford won multiple races on a weekend for the first time since 2015.

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