CAMERON Hill cut a surprisingly chipper figure for a driver who narrowly missed out on Supercars finals despite having long been perched inside the championship’s top 10.
The battle for the last playoffs ticket went down to the very last lap of the ‘regular season’ at Bathurst, with just three points proving the difference as Kai Allen edged out Hill and André Heimgartner.
Had it not been for Allen re-passing Aaron Cameron in the closing stages, it would have likely been Hill in – although Supercars regulations don’t explicitly state how a tiebreaker is handled in-season (only after the final race does the traditional countback apply per rules).
It’s a tough break for Hill, who has won a race in 2025 and ranks ninth on qualifying average.
But the Canberran wasn’t all that heartbroken, truth be told.
“It is what it is,” he told V8 Sleuth.
“There’s probably 10 different things we can point to now and say ‘that cost us the finals’. Some of them were me, some of them were the team, some of them were out of our control. That’s motorsport.
“I was proud that we were in the fight and I felt like I stepped up a lot this year as a driver, so I’m keen to finish the year on a high and start next year with the BJR guys.
“It’s an exciting project with the Supra, it looked great on track.”
Hill dumped a stack of points in three Sunday races across the winter (Sundays being the higher-stakes component during the Repco Sprint Cup), placing 23rd in Perth due to a battery issue, 24th in Townsville due to a brake pad explosion, and 24th in Ipswich after his infamous brain snap against Zach Bates.
He had looked destined to lose more ground when co-driver Cameron McLeod copped a penalty for contact with PremiAir Racing’s Nash Morris during the Great Race, only to remarkably charge from a lap down to finish fifth.
“We had a really fast car all week and we just persevered in that race,” said Hill.
The Supaglass Camaro runs off at the Chase. Pic: Mark Walker
“I think we made a lot of good calls and made the car better each stint. Top five at Bathurst is my personal best.
“Obviously we caught a couple of breaks there with some Safety Cars, as did many others, and we found ourselves in a nice place to race when it really mattered. But that’s why this race is so special, because you’re never done.”
Hill will switch from Matt Stone Racing to Brad Jones Racing for the 2026 Repco Supercars Championship.
Three rounds remain this year, starting with the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 across October 24-26.
The 14 non-finals drivers, which also includes Hill’s teammate Nick Percat after he was struck down by a Bathurst engine failure, are now unleashed on an all-out quest for event silverware with zero championship ramifications given they now cannot finish better than 11th overall.