Cameron McConville
| Cameron McConville | |
|---|---|
| Championship titles | |
| 1992 1996 | Australian Formula Ford Australian GT Production |
Cameron 'Conkers' McConville (born 22 January 1974) is an Australian racing driver and motorsport celebrity. While retired from full-time competition, McConville still races occasionally and is an in-demand endurance event co-driver. McConville spent 14 years as a professional driver, ten of those in the largest Australian domestic category,
Network Ten's Australian coverage of Formula One. McConville announced his retirement from full-time racing for the end of the 2009 season.[1] He is also rumoured to be The Stig in Top Gear Australia.[2]
McConville now works with Porsche Centre Melbourne as the Motorsport Commercial Manager.
Early years
McConville began his motor racing career at the age of eight racing
Motorcraft Formula Ford Driver to Europe Series beating future champions such as Craig Lowndes and Steven Richards
.
This victory (he was the youngest ever winner of the series) drew national attention and a testing role with
Ford Sierra RS500. McConville easily qualified the car, but in the wet conditions that marred the race it was decided to let the more experienced pair of Terry Shiel and Greg Crick
handle the driving of the tricky, but powerful, turbocharged car.
His solid performance in practice at Bathurst meant he was invited back to DJR for the
VP Commodore, McConville miscued going over Skyline, got the car sideways and clouted the wall, causing what turned out to be mostly cosmetic damage to the Falcon. However, the damage the #18 Shell car was done and Radisich/McConville would ultimately finish in 8th position, 10 laps behind the winning Larry Perkins/Gregg Hansford Commodore. McConville's crash at Mount Panorama
proved to be costly to his rising career.
After several years of driving for lesser teams, his persistence finally paid off when he teamed up with prominent
Jim Richards. In 1997 he was chosen to replace Greg Murphy as the Audi Australia 'works' driver (largely due to his success the previous year) where he finished third in the Australian Super Touring Championship. In 1998 he was narrowly beaten to the championship by team owner Brad Jones
in somewhat controversial circumstances.
Supercars career
An impressive part-time drive in the 1999
Holden Racing Team offer McConville an endurance co-drive, pairing up with the then championship leader Craig Lowndes. Together they finished in second place at the Bathurst 1000 race. This performance earned him a full-time contract with the newly expanded Rod Nash Racing for 2000. In 2001 he moved to the Sydney-based Lansvale racing team where he continued to impress in under-funded, less-developed machinery. He remained with the team until he was offered a contract with the Garry Rogers Motorsport outfit in 2004 after he was the outright winner of the Bathurst 24 hour race in 2002 in a Holden Monaro driving for the same team. The move to the Garry Rogers team proved fruitful for McConville when he took his first championship race win at Winton Raceway in 2004. In 2005 he took on team leader status at GRM with the departure of Garth Tander to the HSV dealer team. The following year, McConville was lured to Kees and Paul Weel's Supercheap Auto Racing outfit to pair with Greg Murphy after the retirement of Paul Weel
in 2005.
In 2007, Cameron began a new motorsport reporting role with
Channel Ten, including co-hosting the Formula One coverage.[3]
In 2008, he joined up with his former boss Brad Jones to drive the number 14 Commodore after the team made the switch from
Holden Racing Team
.
McConville stepped back into a race car at the
HSV R8 Tourer to third place. Subsequently, McConville picked up a drive in the 2010 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series driving the Eggleston Motorsport Commodore which also enjoyed support from Holden Racing Team's parent organisation Walkinshaw Performance eager to get McConville additional racing prior to the 2010 endurance races. In the lead up to the 2010 Sucrogen Townsville 400, Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport announced that McConville would be replacing Daniel Gaunt in the team in the short term.[4]
McConville was a last minute entrant for
2011 V8 Supercars Championship. He replaced Jason Bright
in Race 24, who withdrew after qualifying due to a rib injury. McConville started at the rear of the field and finished 19th.
Career results
Bathurst 1000 results
| Year | Car# | Team | Car | Co-driver | Position | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | 18 | Dick Johnson Racing | Ford Sierra RS500
|
 Terry Shiel Greg Crick
|
11th | 134 |
| 1993 | 18 | Dick Johnson Racing | Ford EB Falcon
|
 Paul Radisich
|
8th | 151 |
| 1994 | 39 | Challenge Motorsport | Holden VP Commodore
|
Chris Smerdon
|
13th | 151 |
| 1996 | 10 | Larkham Motor Sport
|
Ford EF Falcon
|
Mark Larkham
|
DNF | 3 |
| 1997* | 11 | Brad Jones Racing | Audi A4 Quattro |  Jean-François Hemroulle
|
3rd | 161 |
| 1998* | 1 | Brad Jones Racing | Audi A4 Quattro | Brad Jones
|
3rd | 161 |
| 1998 | 18 | Dick Johnson Racing | Ford EL Falcon
|
John Bowe
|
DNF | 80 |
| 1999 | 1 | Holden Racing Team
|
Holden VT Commodore
|
Craig Lowndes
|
2nd | 161 |
| 2000 | 54 | Rod Nash Racing | Holden VT Commodore
|
Geoff Brabham
|
DNF | 105 |
| 2001 | 3 | Lansvale Racing Team | Holden VX Commodore
|
Rick Bates
|
10th | 160 |
| 2002 | 3 | Lansvale Racing Team | Holden VX Commodore
|
Warren Luff
|
15th | 159 |
| 2003 | 3 | Lansvale Racing Team | Holden VX Commodore
|
Tim Leahey
|
20th | 144 |
| 2004 | 34 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Holden VY Commodore
|
Garth Tander
|
DNF | 133 |
| 2005 | 34 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Holden VZ Commodore
|
Andrew Jones
|
4th | 161 |
| 2006 | 51 | Paul Weel Racing | Holden VZ Commodore
|
Greg Murphy
|
DNF | 104 |
| 2007 | 50 | Paul Weel Racing | Holden VE Commodore
|
David Reynolds
|
DNS | 0 |
| 2008 | 12 | Brad Jones Racing | Holden VE Commodore
|
Andrew Jones
|
DNF | 40 |
| 2009 | 8 | Brad Jones Racing | Holden VE Commodore
|
Jason Richards
|
2nd | 161 |
| 2010 | 2 | Holden Racing Team
|
Holden VE Commodore
|
Garth Tander
|
3rd | 161 |
| 2011 | 1 | Holden Racing Team
|
Holden VE Commodore
|
James Courtney
|
7th | 161 |
| 2012 | 22 | Holden Racing Team
|
Holden VE Commodore
|
James Courtney
|
4th | 161 |
2016
|
222 | Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport | Holden VF Commodore
|
Nick Percat
|
3rd | 161 |
* Super Touring race
Complete Bathurst 24 Hour results
| Year | Team | Co-drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Overall position |
Class position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Garry Rogers Motorsport
|
Garth Tander Steven Richards Nathan Pretty
|
Holden Monaro 427C | 1 | 532 | 1st | 1st |
| 2003 | Garry Rogers Motorsport
|
Nathan Pretty Garth Tander Steven Richards
|
Holden Monaro 427C | A | 527 | 2nd | 2nd |
References
- ^ "Cameron McConville retires because he's 'over' motor-racing". couriermail.com.au. 5 November 2009. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
- ^ "Oz Stig unmasked". theage.com.au. 27 April 2013. Archived from the original on 30 April 2013. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
- ^ "Watch full episodes of TV shows for free on 10 play".
- ^ "Dumbrell: Team needs experienced driver". Speed Cafe. 1 July 2010. Archived from the original on 3 July 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
External links
- Holden Motorsport
- Cameron McConville career summary at DriverDB.com
- Cameron McConville driver statistics at Racing-Reference