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MSR has been one of the surprise packages of the 2024 Supercars season, the team more regularly emerging from the midfield to run near the front.
The standout result so far is Nick Percat’s victory at Albert Park, the team’s new recruit having only missed out on the top 10 in three of the 12 races so far.
That’s left him an impressive fourth in the standings heading to Townsville.
Hill has enjoyed a promising sophomore season so far as well, with two top 10 race results and four finishes inside the top half of the field.
While the MSR Camaro package is clearly competitive this year, Hill reckons it’s not just on-track performance that is contributing to the results.
He says the move to a full-blown pit stop practice car over the summer, which replaced an old static rig, has made a world of difference to MSR’s efficiency in the lane and played a big part in the squad’s evolution this year.
“Last year was a real building year, when I look at it,” Hill told Speedcafe.
“I was a rookie driver. We had a lot of new guys in the team, the two guys on my car are some of the youngest in the field. I think there was a lot that we had to learn and work on.
“Whereas this year we’ve got continuity. Obviously Nick is new, but a lot of the crew are the same, same engineers, and I feel like we’ve been able to build, rather than having to start new and learn all the processes.
“It’s like okay, this worked well, that didn’t work so let’s fix it up. I mean, we went from being one of the weaker teams in pit lane, purely because of experience, and now I think we’re second in the [Pirtek] Pit Stop Challenge. Which is unreal.
“And they are practicing every day, now we’ve got this pit stop car up and running at the shop. We saw that as an area that we had to improve in. They’ve now got that tool to use every day. I think it’s paid for itself already, it’s delivering what we need.
“It’s really cool to see the crew starting to believe that they are front-running guys and we’re a front-running team.”
Hill says another contributing factor is that he and Percat have a more similar driving style, and set-up preferences, than he had with former team-mate Jack Le Brocq.
“I knew he was going to be good, but I’ve been really impressed with the level that Nick is at,” said Hill.
“What he feels from the car has been really good to hear, he’s got really good feedback. And his driving style is quite similar to mine.
“Jack’s, last year, was different to how I was driving the car at the time, so when he was at the front and I was learning and struggling, it was like, okay, do I have to start driving like him?
“Whereas with Nick, we end up in the same spot with set-up, where at times last year I felt like what Jack had didn’t work for me.
“Not always, there were times that it all lined up. But it’s really cool to have someone who is saying the same things. And his feeling of the car is quite impressive. He’s been through a few generations of the cars and different rules. He knows how they feel when they are quick.”
Hill will sport Team PPQ colours for this weekend’s NTI Townsville 500, where he says MSR has a clear eye on having both cars running inside the top 10.
“It’s a track that rewards confidence, and there are two things that give you confidence – a good car underneath you and then experience,” Hill added.
“I feel like this year our cars have been really strong when we’ve rolled them out, which has been encouraging. And I look at how I was driving 12 months ago compared to how I’m driving now. I thought I was close last year, that it was just a few little things. Twelve months down the line you go, I was further away than I thought.
“Now I’m driving much better. So the goal for this weekend is another strong showing. If we can get two cars in the top 10 again, that’s a decent result for us.”
