Bringing his 2017 campaign to an end last weekend with the fifth and final Toyota 86 Racing Series round at the Newcastle street circuit, Cameron Crick will carry added confidence into his 2018 campaign, despite facing a myriad of challenges throughout the year.
While it certainly wasn’t the weekend they were hoping for, with a technical issue in the third and final race denying Crick of an eighth-place finish, Crick and the Sieders Racing team found solid pace throughout the event, giving them a promising look at what they can potentially achieve in next year’s series.
Heading into Friday’s practice, the team were unfortunately on the back foot from the outset, being plagued by an engine issue which had been lingering since the previous round at Bathurst. With no time to change the engine prior to qualifying later that afternoon, Crick was forced to wrestle his car to a 20th qualifying result.
Returning to the track refreshed on Saturday with an alternate engine, Crick noticed the difference immediately, powering forward from 20th in race one to an 11th-place finish, before once again improving in his second race, cracking into the top-10 against some stout competition and coming home ninth.
In his third and final race on Sunday, Crick maintained a top-10 position, running strongly in eighth with just two corners to go on the final lap; however, a technical issue caused the car to stop coming out of turn nine, bringing Crick’s weekend to a disappointing end.
The result secured Crick’s final place in the overall Toyota 86 Racing Series point standings, with the determined racer placing 15th.
“Despite the issues we experienced, it was a promising weekend overall and we were able to show some good pace and consistency in each of our three races,” admitted Crick, who was pleased to have been a part of the significant Newcastle event.
“If we had have been using our spare engine in qualifying, I think we would’ve been able to achieve a much better qualifying result, which would have set us up a bit better for the rest of the weekend.
“Although it’s been a bit of a frustrating year and 15th in the championship isn’t quite where we hoped we’d be, having endured numerous mechanical and driver issues, we’ve come away from the weekend with some added confidence, having seen that we’re able to consistently run inside the top 10.
“We know that we have a lot more to showcase, so hopefully next year we can come back even bigger and better.”
Crick would like to thank the following 2017 sponsors for their support:
Clintons Toyota
Plus Fitness
Plus Fitness Racing
O’Neill Civil Pty Ltd
A+T Puckle Electrical
EWP Plant Hire
All Access Haulage
HDSA Group
Stockwell International
ELK Security
SportsArt
Adtrans Hino
Pro Axle Australia
Rapid 1st Aid Training & Supplies
My Property Consultants
Pitman Trucks
Direct Steel Traders
Fuchs Lubricants (Australasia)
Muscat Trailers
Designed by Kaity
Hawk Carts
Creative Signworx
ACM Parts
Special thanks go to the Sieders Racing team, along with Crick’s family and friends, for all of their continued support, without which none of this would be possible.
To find out more about Crick and his team, LIKE them on Facebook by searching Cameron Crick Racing and Sieders Racing.
