AARON Cameron has become the third driver in history to win both the Gold Star and Tasman Cup.
Cameron sealed the deal by winning the penultimate race of the season on Saturday in Adelaide, giving him an unassailable lead in the S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship.
It follows his Tasman Cup win two years ago and puts him in elusive company with Simon Wills and Graham McRae as the only drivers to win the two biggest open-wheel series trophies in this part of the world.
“It’s pretty cool to wrap up the Gold Star/Australian Drivers’ Championship. There’s lots of cool names on there,” Cameron told V8 Sleuth.
“I think it’s our first full year to actually have a crack, like I have been in S5000 for three years but only a few rounds, so to have a first full-year crack at it and to win it is pretty cool.
“I’m just happy for all of the GRM team because they are the ones that built the cars and put all of the effort in for the series and they hadn’t quite got the championship yet.
“We had got the Tasman Cup with me and Herney (Nathan Herne) and it’s just so great to get them a championship because the boys do work incredibly hard.”Cameron now has the chance to add another Tasman Series title to his collection.
With the historic trophy being solely decided in Adelaide and Cameron having won the opening two races of the weekend, he has an 11-point weekend lead over Jordan Boys with one race remaining tomorrow.
“Coming into the weekend it was a higher concern to make sure we win the main championship,” Cameron confessed.
“But now, the pace has been really good and if we can get away strongly in this last one we’ll look to close it out and do the double, which would be pretty special in the same year.”
It’s been a busy year for the 23-year-old, who has also competed in TCR Australia and Super2.
Asked how 2024 is shaping up, Cameron indicated he’ll look to narrow his focus.
“Next year we will try to limit any double duties that we’re going to do on the same weekend,” he said.
“It’s too hard, you don’t give the right presence to both crews.
“But Super2 has been really fun and learning a lot and we’re getting there.
“To be banging on the top 10 in qualifying and usually working our way up in the races is good and I’d love to be back next year for a full series.
“That is the goal now, is to try to pull the whole program together to make it a proper tilt at something big, because coming in halfway through has been a big challenge.
“It has been awesome working with everyone here at Australian Racing Group and help from Kelly Racing as well, but if we really want to go up against teams like Walkinshaw and Tickford and Eggleston, you’ve got to put in another level of effort.”
