Camden-Based racer Cameron Crick has endured a challenging weekend on the streets of Newcastle as the 21-year-old brought the curtain down on his impressive 2018 campaign. Entering the 6th and final round of the 2018 Toyota 86 Racing Series placed 3rd in the series championship, Crick sought to further ascend the ladder and finish his season with a bang.
After qualifying 5th and showing signs of pace in practice, Crick would be left ruing an error on Lap 1 of Race 1, which saw the talented speedster run wide in Turn 12 and make heavy contact with the wall – a blow which would leave Crick not only without ABS for the remainder of the race, but also effectively unable to make a challenge for higher positions in the championship. Despite this incident, Crick grimly stuck to the task as hand, and showed plenty of determination and grit to pilot his damaged Toyota 86 into 15th position, despite constantly battling swarms of competitors who pounced at the wounded warrior.
With plenty of work from Crick and the team, the Clintons Toyota/Plus Fitness entry was able to re-enter the fray in Race 2, and leap from 15th on the grid inside the Top-10. As Crick continued his charge into the final laps of the race, his gains would be so cruelly taken away in what could only be described as a freak accident. As Crick entered the penultimate lap closely behind the 8th-placed Luke King, Crick would watch on as King ran wide in Turn 1. As the 21-year-old made his move up the inside, King’s car bounced hard into the Turn 1 barrier, before ricocheting outwards and clipping the rear of Crick’s #7 entry as it dove up the inside. The contact would result in Crick being spun and sustaining heavy damage, which led to a 17-position drop to 25th position.
In a weekend rapidly shaping to be a disaster for the young speedster from Camden, Crick would remain optimistic for Race 3 and would be rewarded for his positive attitude by ascending 15 positions to 10th by the conclusion of the race, despite commandeering what was at that point of the weekend a heavily damaged race-car. The impressive drive from the 21-year-old was a fitting way to end a season which has seen Crick continually forced to overcome challenges and adversity to produce the kind of results which has placed the young man firmly into the spotlight as one to watch on Australia’s top young motor-racing prospects.
Despite this impressive feat, Crick remained dissatisfied with the results produced in his final round of the season, but was able to reflect upon his tremendous season with pride, in stating:
“I can’t help but look back on this weekend as something of a disappointment from a results perspective. We knew we could potentially challenge for those higher positions in the championship, but to have those aspirations taken away so soon was a really crushing blow. From there it was just about maximising what we could and in Race 2 we were doing that and in a really freak accident we nearly lost everything. Fortunately we were able to crawl over the finish line and do some major work on the car, which we were able to somehow climb up 15 positions to finish 3rd overall in the championship. While it would’ve been nice to finish a bit stronger in the final round, to finish 3rd in such a competitive series is a result myself and the team are proud of. In my first season co-ordinating the team it’s been a full-on experience thats taught me a lot about the broader work involved in racing, but to take the challenge head-on and see some good results is extremely pleasing. I’d like to thank the whole team at Cameron Crick Racing, my family, my sponsors and everyone else who helped make this year so special. It’s been a whole lot of fun and I can’t wait to hit the track bigger and better in 2019!”
Crick would like to thank his sponsors for the 2019 season, who have done plenty fantastic work in supporting the team:
Clintons Toyota
Plus Fitness
Pro-Axle Australia
All Safe Group
A&T Puckle Electrical
HDSA Group
Adtrans Hino
EWP Plant Hire
MyProperty Consultants
Castrol Australia
O’Neill Civil
Muscat Trailers
Pitman Trucks
Cleanaway Environmental Services
JP’s Metal
Rapid First Aid
Clean Geeks
Direct Steel Traders
Hawk Carts
Creative Signworx
Viztek Media
ACM Parts
