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McLeod PremiAir endurance co-driver announcement imminent

Cameron McLeod at PremiAir Supercar Garage in Darwin

By Andrew Clarke

Young gun Cameron McLeod has been visible in Nulon gear at Darwin, reinforcing the view that he will soon be announced as Tim Slade’s endurance co-driver for PremiAir Racing.

The winner of the 2023 Mike Kable Young Gun Award has been racing at arm’s length with the team this year in Super2.

McLeod has been running one of its ex-Triple Eight ZB Commodores in Coke colours with technical support from the main game squad, but not technically as a full-blown PremiAir operation.

His form has been up and down, and his championship hopes took a big hit in Perth, literally, when Cooper Murray turned him on the fast back straight for what will surely be one of the most spectacular crashes of the season in any racing class.

Because the race was red-flagged, McLeod still bagged a heap of points for third place. He sits fifth in the series points, 165 points away from runaway leader Kai Allen, who is trying to chase rare back-to-back titles in Super2.

After it barrel rolled down the straight, the #92 car looked like it was virtually a write-off, but it will be repaired in time for McLeod to race at Townsville in three weeks.

Cameron McLeod survived a monster crash in Perth.

Cameron McLeod survived a monster crash in Perth.

McLeod is highly rated by the talent spotters. Peter Xiberras has been keeping an eye on him since last year and jumped at the chance to bring him into the reckoning not just as a co-driver for this year but maybe even as a replacement for Slade at the end of the season.

Earlier in the year, though, it even looked like he could jump into the main game this year. Slade has regained some of the form that has kept him in the series for the past 15 years, although results are still slim on the ground.

Slade is 21st in the championship, with only Macauley Jones and Aaron Love behind him as drivers who have competed in every round.

James Golding in the team’s other Nulon Racing Camaro will be partnered in the endurance races by David Russell, who executed a clause in his contract to exit Erebus when it looked like there was a chance Brodie Kostecki wouldn’t line up this year.

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