The weight of a city on Hill's shoulders
Cameron Hill will have the added weight of the Nation's Capital on his shoulders when he debuts in 2023.
Hill has been signed by Matt Stone Racing for a maiden Supercars full-time season.
The 25-year-old will be the first full-time Canberra-born driver in 19 years.
Dale Brede was Canberra’s last representative on a full-time Supercars grid.
Brede competed in the full 2004 Supercars Championship with Team Dynamik.
He then took on an endurance driver role with Brad Jones Racing.
Hill, who is fourth in the Super2 standings, is excited to represent Canberra in Supercars.
Brede in 2004 Pic: AN1 Images
“It’s a pretty cool thing to be Canberra’s sole representative on the Supercars grid full-time,” Hill said.
“Hopefully I can do everyone in Canberra really proud and give them someone to cheer for.
“Hopefully as the year progresses, we’ll start edging closer and closer towards the front.
“Any race car driver wants to go win races.
“But I’m also realistic that I’m going up against guys who have done this for a long time.”
Hill’s progression has been rapid, and successful — he began karting in 2005, and quickly progressed to the senior levels.
In 2012, Hill won the National Pro Junior (KF3) Australian Championship.
He joined the likes of Supercars drivers Tim Slade and Michael Caruso to have won the title.
He then progressed to the Australian Formula Ford Championship in 2014, and finished sixth overall.
That 2014 title was taken out by Thomas Randle, who Hill will race against in 2023.
In 2015, Hill crushed his rivals to win the Formula Ford title with 12 wins.
Strong results in the Toyota 86 Series were followed by a Porsche Carrera Cup title in 2021.
That attracted the attention of Triple Eight, which signed Hill to a Super2 campaign for 2022.
He is one of five drivers in contention heading to the Adelaide finale, wth teammate Declan Fraser in the box seat.
Hill’s fast-learning capabilities encouraged Stone, who continued his efforts to blood new talent.
“In years of racing different categories, he’s proven that he’s ready to take the step” Stone said.
“He's come across a broad range of different categories and has been successful in all of them.
“The new Gen3 era with brand-new cars — different machinery to previous years — it’s the perfect opportunity for him to make his debut.
"The new Gen3 chassis here at MSR are starting to come together, we’re really excited to debut them next year.”
The 2022 Supercars and Super2 seasons will conclude in Adelaide next month.
Teams will begin testing their Gen3 cars in January before the March Newcastle 2023 season opener.
