McConville takes SuperUtes role

Cameron McConville will be back in the headmaster’s chair this year, taking the Race Director role with the new ECB SuperUtes Series.

The former full-time Supercars driver has significant experience in race control, including acting as Supercars Driving Standards Advisor in 2013.

Before that he’d gained experience performing a mixture of DSA and Race Director duties for Formula Ford and Porsche’s Carrera Cup and GT3 Cup Challenge classes.

While his tenure as Supercars’ umpire was short, McConville says he’s looking forward to what will be a very different role with SuperUtes.

His Race Director position will include DSA duties, through which McConville says he’ll take a mentoring approach with the field of largely young drivers.

Chris Formosa's Ford testing last weekend at Wakefield Park

“It’s a good fit for me,” McConville told Supercars.com ahead of this weekend’s inaugural SuperUtes round in Adelaide.

“I raced Utes for a couple of years in its old format and I know at least half of the drivers.

“My role isn’t just a traditional Race Director position, it’s a multi-faced role, with a bit of mentoring and the DSA duties.

“My philosophy there is to help the drivers learn from any mistakes and work together to make it a good show.

“It’s a role I’ve done before for Porsche, so it’s going back in time for me, but I’m feeling refreshed and looking forward to kicking off the series.”

The Adelaide SuperUtes opener has attracted 10 entries, with the Ford Ranger, Holden Colorado, Mazda BT-50, Toyota Hilux and Mitsubishi Triton all represented.

Although it’ll take fans – and potential competitors – time to adjust after 18 years of the Falcon and Commodore-based V8 Ute format, McConville says the time is right for change.

Matthew Mackelden's Toyota

“There’s probably a few people sitting on the fence at the moment, but you only have to look at the marketplace and where that’s gone,” he said.

“Once people have seen them running in Adelaide, I think the interest will only grow.

“They’ve had good people involved in the development, like Ross Stone, and it’ll be a good challenge for everyone to get their heads around how to make them go fast.”

Since stepping away from Supercars race control duties at the end of 2013, McConville has filled a number of full-time roles at Porsche, CAMS and Zagame Motorsport.

He was set to lead Phil Munday’s 23Red Racing Supercars team this season, but has instead returned to life as a contractor.

As well as the eight SuperUtes events, McConville will race a Lamborghini at four Australian GT rounds, and work as an ambassador for bearing manufacturer Timken and 4WD accessory company Opposite Lock.

“I’m looking forward to taking my foot off the gas a little bit. The last few years I’ve been in fairly full-on, general manager sort of roles,” he said.

“When you look at the Supercars game, it’s a massive commitment in terms of 16 weekends and this year I’ve decided to be around a bit more for my kids.”