Cameron McLeod is treasuring his time in MARC Cars Australia after an impressive round win at Sandown International Raceway last weekend.
The 18-year-old has spent valuable time with the category in 2023, taking his MARC I specification Mazda to new heights and even finish ahead of the newer, faster MARC GT cars.
After qualifying in second on Friday afternoon at the iconic Victorian circuit, McLeod was able to make his way past polesitter and MARC I compatriot, Jake Camilleri to claim his first victory of the weekend.
The Queenslander would then turn even more heads after another impressive outing in Race 2, where he would make it back-to-back race wins ahead of Darren Currie’s MARC II Mustang.
A second-place finish behind the MARC GT 001 piloted by Dan Jilesen would all but secure not only the MARC I honours, but also the outright round win for McLeod.
While McLeod was thrilled to walk away with the round win, he was pleased to bank valuable experience behind the wheel of such a driver-friendly machine.
“It was a great weekend in the MARC Car, I have been lucky enough to win most of the rounds this year, so it is going well,” McLeod said.
“I really enjoy driving the cars, it’s the main reason I keep coming back to the category they are just amazing to get behind the wheel of.
“Being able to run up with the MARC GT was quite fun, I am really comfortable pushing the cars to the limit all the way to the end of the race and you know the car is going to pull up.
“We do it for experience, drive anything and everything we can as much as possible, I like getting in the far and going around the track – most people’s success comes from getting in the car.
“We love to win, we go there to do that and when it happens, we always leave happy, and I think the MARC Cars guys like me too so that’s a bonus.
“Jake Camilleri was up there with us a bit as well, me and Jake have been doing it for a bit longer and we have basically got it nailed. We just kept pushing and pushing and the results came.
“Brad Neill gave me a brilliant car all weekend, I’m very thankful for what he has been able to give me and I’m glad I could convert it into results not just for me, but for the team as well.”
McLeod will now return to Sandown Raceway this weekend to continue his Dunlop Super2 Series endeavours at the Penrite Oil Sandown 500, but wasn’t ruling out a return to Shannons SpeedSeries in the future after having also competed as part of Monochrome GT4 Australia at Queensland Raceway last month.
“We will see what happens, we just want to go one race at a time and not get ahead of ourselves. Once we do Sandown Supercars this weekend, we will see what the options are from there,” McLeod explained.
“I did the recent round in GT4 at Queensland Raceway, I was lucky enough to drive with Chris Pappas in the McLaren which was a great experience.
“The Shannons SpeedSeries is well run, you can see it walking around the pits everything looks decorated up, it’s nice, its flash and it gets great media attention. They do a really good job.”
MARC Cars Australia will return to the track next month when the category joins the bill at Shell V-Power Motorsport Park (The Bend) on 13-15 October as part of Shannons Trophy Series.
Those planning on attending the event can do so free of charge and can find more information here.
