Hill explains Turn 8 qualifying crash
Cameron Hill hopeful of rebuild after Adelaide qualifying crash
Hill crashed MSR Camaro at Turn 8 during qualifying
MSR rookie clipped inside wall before being pin-balled across the track
Matt Stone Racing rookie Cameron Hill is hopeful of a rebuild in time to start Race 28 following his VAILO Adelaide 500 qualifying crash.
Hill was the first driver of the main game weekend to be bitten by Adelaide’s infamous Turn 8 wall on Sunday morning.
The #35 Truck Assist Camaro clipped the inside wall, sending Hill into the outside wall at pace. The car slid across the track and came to rest on the entry to Turn 9.
The Canberran was fine, but MSR mechanics are now racing the clock to repair the Chevrolet in time for the final race of the season, which is scheduled to start at 2:45pm local time/3:15pm AEDT.
"I’m all good, the medical team are obviously very thorough and did all the obvs on me, I feel fine,” said Hill, who has already been retained by MSR for 2024.
"It was disappointing, because that wall’s gotten me twice now.
"It’s just one of those corners where there’s consequences for going in too hard, and there’s also consequences for almost being conservative.
"That was probably more that conservative side, it was sort of the first push lap. I thought I was in reasonably deep, but maybe not enough.
“The car turned more than I expected and obviously it’s pretty much a signed fate to hit the outside wall, so pretty disappointing.”
When asked if he thought he would be out for the day, Hill said: "That probably wasn’t the first thought that was going through my mind on my way to the wall.
“But when you get out and you walk around, you go, ‘Oh, that’s bad’. I didn’t have any sort of thoughts that I’d be racing today.
“But the crew are smashing it at the moment, which is unreal. Never say never."
On the damage itself, Hill added: "Sometimes you get lucky with how the damage is spread across the car. I managed the pluck nearly every wheel off the thing.
"It looked really bad, but the boys had a quick look and they said the chassis is okay, so we’re in with a chance to get it back out. They’re very positive, I’m hopeful."
Hill’s rookie campaign has encountered peaks and troughs, with the 26-year-old scoring a season-best eighth at the NED Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint in May.
"This [crash] doesn’t change our year. We’ve just had a lot of things not go our way,” he said.
"But I think we’ve seen enough that when we get it right and we execute, we can actually get great results. For me, the most disappointing thing is that it is the last day of the year.
"If this happens in the middle of the year, it kind of gets swept under the rug. But on the last day of the year, it's a shame."
