Cameron Hill promised Matt Stone Racing a maiden podium in 2025 and he is delighted to tick that box so early.
In the first race of the second round of the year, Hill enjoyed the standout day of his short, but growing Supercars career so far.
The 28-year-old qualified third and more impressively put in a composed drive to defend the spot from the likes of Brodie Kostecki and collect his first piece of Supercars silverware.
In even better news he has the chance to achieve more on Friday after qualifying on the front row for the first time for Race 5 of the season.
Before this weekend Hill’s best qualifying and race results were fourth and fifth respectively, both achieved at last year’s season opening Bathurst 500.
All up he only had eight top 10s in his previous 56 starts.
The ever composed Hill was thrilled and also relieved he backed up his promise so quickly.
“It was very, very cool,” he said.
“I thought it was on the cards. I promised the boys before the year started I would get them a trophy and I was a bit stressed about that because if I did not follow through I would look a bit silly, so I am glad we did it so early.
“I knew we had a good car when we rolled out and from there it was just about trying to stay calm and execute in qualifying.
“To get two good grid positions is a great way to set us up for the weekend and I am just happy to convert a third place start into a third place finish.”
The breakthrough result comes at the start of Hill’s third year in Supercars.
After being solid in Super2,but driving in the shadow of Triple Eight teammate Declan Fraser in 2022, he stepped up to the main game with MSR the following year and has shown impressive progress.
After emerging from his rookie season 23rd, Hill took a giant step forward last year by improving 10 positions in the standings.
He admits he is just starting to get his head around the Supercar having come from Porsches and pinpointed one-lap pace as a major area of improvement in 2025.
“It has taken me probably two years to get my head around the Supercar and change my driving style,” he said.
“Towards the end of last year we had some really good races and we circled qualifying as the area.
“I needed to improve because if you start at the front you can stay up there. We are off to a decent start.
“The boys at MSR work seriously, seriously hard. New car for me this year and we had some big goals.
“To get on the podium this early in the year is awesome and we have ticked the box so hopefully now we can push for more.”
As for starting on the front row in Race 5, Hill has his sights set on victory.
“Yes, being on the front row there is the opportunity where if I can get a good start we could play the game they did today,” he said.
“They stressed me out driving so slow so I was glad the safety car came out.
“You see how they manage the race and being teammates really helped and things could have been different with another team.
“Then either the leader wants to set the pace with someone behind putting on the pressure.
“It was an ideal situation for them, so it was cool to hitch my wagon and tomorrow we will try to go a couple better.”
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