Cameron kept a broken toe on the low-down in the days leading up to the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix and then had to think about a fire encroaching on his house.
In a cruel but somewhat amusing irony, the Blanchard Racing Team driver was put up for a media opportunity with the Melbourne Victory football team in the days leading up to the race.
“At the start of the week, I was trying to hide it from you at the Melbourne Victory soccer thing,” said Cameron of his broken toe, speaking on the Supercars: Cool Down Lap podcast.
“I was trying to not limp and not kick any balls, and then you saw it. At that stage, I was trying to keep it on the down low, but yeah, it was… it’s been a tough weekend with the toe.
“Walking back and forth is annoying but I’m not going to use it as an excuse for why the pace wasn’t exactly there. Learned a lot. Lots of tough racing. Much more intensity than I expected.”
To add insult to injury, a fire in Melbourne’s east where Cameron resides came precariously close to his home.
“My mum came and saw me after the race on Saturday and said ‘Is there anything you need out of the house? Because there’s a fire coming pretty close’,” Cameron explained.
“At that stage, it was about six or seven hundred metres away. Through the night it got within a couple hundred metres and my mum, sister, a lot of other friends and family were there trying to put out little spotfires and embers.
“Thanks to them and thankfully I’ve still got a house to go back to tonight. I’ve got enough going on as it is in this car but it’s just something you forget about. We live up in the bushland area. Still always think you’re pretty safe and this time it is a bit eye-opening to how close it can get.”
Cameron’s first Supercars sprint weekend got off to a dramatic start. He was inside the top 10 in the first practice but spun into the gravel later that day during Race 4.
He wound up 22nd in the weekend opener before finishing 19th in Race 5 and 20th in Race 6.
Cameron had targeted “the teens” for his debut, and gave a fairly honest assessment of the weekend at Albert Park.
“Let’s be harsh and give it a four or a five,” he said.
“I wasn’t very happy with a lot of it. There’s some parts that if you look into it all, it’s good and comparable to JC [James Courtney], but certainly qualifying and not getting that lap together makes it look not great.”
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