EYES ON STATES FOR CAMERON SHIELDS

Cameron Shields testing in the US – Photo: Supplied

YOUNG TOOWOOMBA driver Cameron Shields has his eyes set on a career in the US after completing a number of tests in USF2000 machinery just prior to Christmas in which he and fellow Formula Ford driver Hunter McElrea impressed.

By HEATH MCALPINE

McElrea will contest the USF2000 series next year after winning the Road to Indy scholarship, but Shields is still piecing together a budget to contest the series although he has fielded many enquiries from teams such as the title winning Cape Motorsports squad that delivered Australian Anthony Martin the title in 2016.

“We have received a lot of good offers from teams in USF2000, but unfortunately we’ve got a shortfall in the budget right now,” said Shields.

“If we can’t meet the budget to do a full season in USF2000, there are quite a few different avenues we can take, but I’ve been solely focusing on going to the states. If not, there are plenty of other options whether its racing in a category that I’ve already done or a different one.

“But at this stage, I’m not looking at different options until I can’t go race in America.”

Cameron Shields raced Formula Ford, F4 and F3 in Australia in 2018 – Photo: InSyde Media

Shields had a busy season in 2018, he contested a number of rounds in the Australian Formula Ford Series, undertook a full campaign in the Australian Formula 4 Championship and contested the Formula 3 Premier Series. The 17-year-old told Auto Action it was tough to juggle at times, but he experienced much success in each of the categories.

“From a driver’s point of view, I didn’t find it as difficult as I thought I would, although each car was very different,” Shields continued.

“And just from an engineering standpoint, it was hard because racing over three categories, there was no time to develop the cars.”

Branching out across three categories helped Shields immensely when he tested the USF2000 package at Homestead Raceway where he failed to drop out of the top two across the five practice sessions.

“It was very useful in fact because I got used to adapting to a variety of different cars, when I went to America, I had a limited amount of sessions to get used to a whole new car, new track, new team, all what I experienced last year,” Shields told Auto Action.

The goal for Shields is a full-time spot on the USF2000 grid, which begins at St Petersburg on March 8-10.

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