How Crick plans to translate SuperUte form

SuperUtes ace turned Super2 rookie Cameron Crick is hopeful his previous form will serve him well in Townsville.

A combined 32-car Dunlop Super2 field will headline the support category undercard at the upcoming NTI Townsville 500.

The first street circuit event of the 2022 Super2 season will feature two 21-lap races.

It marks a return to a happy hunting ground for Crick, who has claimed victory at the circuit in 2021.

The Eggleston Motorsport rookie has made a promising start to his first season aboard the #38 Holden Commodore.

Crick has clocked up two top 10 results across four races in 2022.

He sits 11th overall, just 30 points behind Eggleston teammate and reigning Mike Kable Young Gun Award winner Matt McLean.

Buoyed by the return to a successful location, Crick hopes the results translate aboard a Supercar.

“I think Townsville is a bit of a drivers track,” Crick told Supercars.com.

“Obviously, the cars got to be good, but you need to commit and get it done.

“There are some tracks we go to that are probably a bit more car dependent, but I think Townsville is just one where you’ve got to drive the thing and you got to drive it pretty hard.

“I have to say it is one of my favourite tracks, my first Toyota 86 podium was there.

“I won the SuperUte round there in 2019, and then in the 86 series last year I was third, so I've always enjoyed it there.

“I’ve gone well there in the past so hopefully it can translate to a Supercar.

“It’s obviously going to be a lot different, but we will see how we go.”

Crick contested a full-time campaign in the 2019 SuperUte series, the last time the category raced at Reid Park.

The 24-year-old claimed two pole positions and two race wins at the North Queensland venue.

Crick also scored a podium at Reid Park in 2021, finishing third in the Toyota Gazoo Racing 86 Series.

"We all go through footage before we get to a track but it's commitment sort of track," Crick said.

"It's not massively fast and flowing, some tracks over the years have probably taken me a bit longer to get used to, but the really fast high-speed tracks like Townsville with short and sharp corners I liked it straightaway.

"It's obviously not a track you can go to and practice, you've got to make it happen."

It comes as Eggleston Motorsport confirmed Matt McLean would not be contesting the upcoming DS2 round in Townsville on Thursday.

Former Super2 racer and Supercars team owner Tim Blanchard has been confirmed to drive the #54 Eggleston Commodore at Reid Park.

The team also confirmed Crick for the round, who is currently not impacted by the NSW floods.

For Crick, the opportunity to learn from Blanchard will be invaluable across the weekend.

“I’m really looking forward to working with Tim in Townsville,” Crick said.

“I ducked out to Winton the other day on his test day and worked with team.

“He’s a very experienced guy in the main game and Super2 and owns his own team, so to be a bit of a fly on the wall was a great experience.

“I got to drive the other day too but to spend most of the day outside of the car and seeing how Tim operates and how he goes about the setup changes, I learned a lot.

“Tim went really well there in Super2 last year so I'm hoping I can just use him as a sponge up there for the weekend.

“As I said I've gone well there in other cars, but there's going to be guys that have been around there in a Supercar and done a good job, Tim is one of them.

“Hopefully I can learn from him throughout the weekend.”

Grove Racing’s Matthew Payne currently leads the series, with Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Declan Fraser 84 points behind.

The Dunlop Series will race on Saturday afternoon, ahead of the opening Supercars 250-kilometre race.

CLICK HERE to purchase your tickets for the biggest motorsport event held in Far North Queensland.

Super2/Super3 hits the track for the first time at Reid Park on Friday July 8 at 8:25am local time/AEST.