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| Cameron McConville | |
|---|---|
.jpg) McConville in 2010 | |
| Nationality |  Australian |
| Born | 22 January 1974 (1974-01-22) (age 51) |
| Supercars career | |
| Debut season | 1999 |
| Teams | John Faulkner Racing Rod Nash Racing Lansvale Racing Team Garry Rogers Motorsport Paul Weel Racing Brad Jones Racing Holden Racing Team Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport |
| Starts | 330 |
| Wins | 2 |
| Poles | 0 |
| Best finish | 10th in2005 |
| Previous series | |
| 1990 1991–92 1996 1997–98 2011–12 2012-17 2015,17 | Victorian Formula Ford Australian Formula Ford Australian GT Production Australian Super Touring V8 Utes Australian GT C/ship Carrera Cup Australia |
| Championship titles | |
| 1992 1996 | Australian Formula Ford Australian GT Production |
Cameron Eric "Conkers" McConville (born 22 January 1974) is an Australian racing driver and motorsport celebrity. While retired from full-time competition, McConville still races occasionally and is an in-demand endurance event co-driver. McConville spent 14 years as a professional driver, ten of those in the largest Australian domestic category,Supercars Championship. McConville has also written for several magazines and presented several television programs and up until the end of the 2009 season was the colour commentator forNetwork Ten's Australian coverage of Formula One. McConville announced his retirement from full-time racing for the end of the 2009 season.[1] He is also rumoured to beThe Stig inTop Gear Australia.[2]
McConville now works with Porsche Centre Melbourne as the Motorsport Commercial Manager.
McConville began his motor racing career at the age of eight racinggo-karts in first local then national championships, culminating in severalVictorian titles. At the age of fifteen, he became the youngest ever holder of a CAMS racing licence with a brief foray intoFormula Vee racing before moving onto the highly competitiveFormula Ford racing category in 1991. In 1992 he was chosen to be the 'works'Van Diemen driver and he won the prestigiousMotorcraft Formula Ford Driver to Europe Series beating future champions such asCraig Lowndes andSteven Richards.
This victory (he was the youngest ever winner of the series) drew national attention and a testing role withDick Johnson'sShell Ultra-hi Racing. McConville impressed Johnson and was included in the driver line up for the1992 Tooheys 1000 in the team's secondFord Sierra RS500. McConville easily qualified the car, but in the wet conditions that marred the race it was decided to let the more experienced pair ofTerry Shiel andGreg Crick handle the driving of the tricky, but powerful, turbocharged car.
His solid performance in practice at Bathurst meant he was invited back to DJR for the1993 Tooheys 1000, where he paired withPaul Radisich in Shell team's secondFord EB FalconV8. Unfortunately, whilst in third position, and under pressure fromTomas Mezera in theHolden Racing TeamVP Commodore, McConville miscued going over Skyline, got the car sideways and clouted the wall, causing what turned out to be mostly cosmetic damage to the Falcon. However, the damage the #18 Shell car was done and Radisich/McConville would ultimately finish in 8th position, 10 laps behind the winningLarry Perkins/Gregg Hansford Commodore. McConville's crash atMount Panorama proved to be costly to his rising career.
After several years of driving for lesser teams, his persistence finally paid off when he teamed up with prominentMelbourne businessmanTom Warwick to drive aPorsche993 RSCS in the Australian GTP championship during the 1996 season. He won the series in the last race of the year beating championship favouriteJim Richards. In 1997 he was chosen to replaceGreg Murphy as theAudiAustralia 'works' driver (largely due to his success the previous year) where he finished third in theAustralian Super Touring Championship. In 1998 he was narrowly beaten to the championship by team ownerBrad Jones in somewhat controversial circumstances.
An impressive part-time drive in the 1999V8 Supercar championship saw theHolden Racing Team offer McConville an endurance co-drive, pairing up with the then championship leaderCraig Lowndes. Together they finished in second place at theBathurst 1000 race. This performance earned him a full-time contract with the newly expandedRod Nash Racing for 2000. In 2001 he moved to theSydney-based Lansvale racing team where he continued to impress in under-funded, less-developed machinery. He remained with the team until he was offered a contract with theGarry Rogers Motorsport outfit in 2004 after he was the outright winner of the Bathurst 24 hour race in 2002 in aHolden Monaro driving for the same team. The move to the Garry Rogers team proved fruitful for McConville when he took his first championship race win atWinton Raceway in 2004. In 2005 he took on team leader status at GRM with the departure ofGarth Tander to the HSV dealer team. The following year, McConville was lured to Kees andPaul Weel'sSupercheap Auto Racing outfit to pair withGreg Murphy after the retirement ofPaul Weel in 2005.
In 2007, Cameron began a new motorsport reporting role withChannel Ten, including co-hosting theFormula One coverage.[3]
In 2008, he joined up with his former boss Brad Jones to drive the number 14 Commodore after the team made the switch fromFord toHolden with the support of Walkinshaw Performance in the pursuit of better results. WOW Sight and Sound soon signed on as McConville's major sponsor for the 2008 championship. McConville immediately highlighted the new relationship with an excellent third at theAdelaide 500. After two mixed seasons McConville announced his decision to step down from full-time racing at the end of the season, the announcement came soon after a nasty crash at thePhillip Island 500K. During the off-season it was also announced that McConville would not be returning to his on-screen role with Channel 10 and McConville set up a business franchise in tyre retailing. A change in V8 Supercar endurance race regulations made McConville hot property as a co-driver in 2010 and he was quickly announced as a co-driver for theHolden Racing Team.
McConville stepped back into a race car at the2010 Bathurst 12 Hour and co-drove aHSV R8 Tourer to third place. Subsequently, McConville picked up a drive in the2010 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series driving the Eggleston Motorsport Commodore which also enjoyed support from Holden Racing Team's parent organisationWalkinshaw Performance eager to get McConville additional racing prior to the 2010 endurance races. In the lead up to the2010 Sucrogen Townsville 400,Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport announced that McConville would be replacingDaniel Gaunt in the team in the short term.[4]
McConville was a last minute entrant forTeam BOC at theFalken Tasmania Challenge of the2011 V8 Supercars Championship. He replacedJason Bright in Race 24, who withdrew after qualifying due to a rib injury. McConville started at the rear of the field and finished 19th.
(Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
*Super Touring race
| Year | Team | Co-drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Overall position | Class position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Garth Tander Steven RichardsNathan Pretty | Holden Monaro 427C | 1 | 532 | 1st | 1st |
| 2003 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Nathan PrettyGarth TanderSteven Richards | Holden Monaro 427C | A | 527 | 2nd | 2nd |
