Upcoming birth, break from racing steer Waters' change of pace

Life is about to get very different for Cam Waters, who ahead of his 11th Supercars season, has changed tack.

For drivers, switching off over the summer break is more than just putting their phone on ‘do not disturb’ — it’s about sidelining the chaos of the season to spend time with loved ones.

Waters, though, has spent recent summers filled with speedway action. However, the Tickford Racing star sought a change of pace as the countdown continues to the biggest change of his life.

In early December, Waters proposed to partner Brooke Page, who is expecting the couple’s first child in the early days of February.

Instead of slinging mud around rural Victorian speedways, Waters changed pace by spending time in his fiancé’s native Tasmania, and his native Mildura.

All told, it has delivered a calmer and clearer path to Round 1 for Waters, who is hunting his first Supercars drivers’ championship.

“It’s been a very different off-season for me,” Waters told Supercars.com.

"I guess the last kind of three, four years I’ve been racing a sprint car, but this year I had it off. I just tried to chill out and just have a break from motor racing.

“We went to Tassie for a bit, then went to Mildura for a bit and just kind of hung out with friends and family, on the river on a houseboat, and did a bit of training.

“There were a few days in the 40s, but when you're on the river, you just get in for a swim, and chill out."

Rival Will Brown took a similar path, having sought out a quiet summer of his own after a 2025 packed with travel and extracurricular racing.

While sprint car racing helped his physical focus, Waters was happy to trade it for time spent on the Murray River to sharpen his mental focus.

“The last few years, doing the sprint car stuff was awesome with how much seat time I got,” the 18-time race winner said.

“I felt super sharp in the car, but I also felt like I didn't have an off-season. This year, it felt like a genuine off-season, which is great. Now I feel fresh and eager to get back in the car and, and get into it.”

No change will be greater than the arrival of their first child, which will make Waters the sixth father on the Supercars grid alongside Chaz Mostert, David Reynolds, Jack Le Brocq, Andre Heimgartner and Macauley Jones.

Mostert has joked becoming a father has forced him to "find two tenths to afford tuition," and it duly resulted in a championship. If it does the same for Waters in 2026, he will become the fourth consecutive first-time champion.

Fans are confident it will happen, Waters attracting 50% of the vote in a recent Supercars.com poll.

“It’s not far away. It's like three weeks now,” Waters said.

“We’re kind of at a point now we just want it to happen, we want to meet her.

"I obviously speak to Chaz heaps, I kind of know what he’s gone through and whatnot, but we have a lot of awesome people around us.

“All I do know is it's gonna be life changing and it's gonna be full on. Brooke and I are excited. We're looking forward to that change. It's gonna be awesome.

“We’re at a time in our lives where we wanted to do it and it’s exciting.”