At times it's been a year to forget for Canberra driver Cameron Hill but he couldn't have asked for a better finish as he completed a Toyota 86 series clean sweep on his 21st birthday.
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Hill brought down the curtain in his second year on the Toyota 86 racing series circuit with a monumental effort at the Newcastle 500 on Sunday.
He claimed pole position for the fifth consecutive time and made it count as he stormed to victory in the opening two races on Saturday, and backed it up with ease on Sunday.
Hill edged out Steve Owen and Aaron Borg in race three but the glory ultimately belonged to Jimmy Vernon, who clinched the overall championship just cleear of the Canberra prospect.
The 21-year-old was cruelly denied the chance to win the Toyota 86 series due to a Mount Panorama mishap in October but things are already looking promising for a bumper 2018.
A tally of seven pole positions and 13 race wins cements Hill as the most successful driver in the category since its inception, and now he has his eye on a new launching pad to motorsport's grand stage.
"We've had some ups and downs this year. If things had gone our way we might have been able to pull off the championship win but sometimes it's not meant to be," Hill said.
"We'll just turn our attention to next year. We're weighing up our options and hopefully in the next week or so we'll be closer to something. It has been looking promising.
"I've got a couple of people that are wanting to support me to make the next step which is really good.
"Definitely looking at categories like Carrera Cup and Super2, definitely staying in Australia next year. But we're just keeping our options open at the moment and seeing what comes our way."
Hill took a liking to the Newcastle street circuit and says he couldn't be happier to succeed on a tough track that rewards commitment and precision.
'We're stoked, it was a perfect way to finish the year," Hill said.
"We can't ask for much more really, the car was really strong all weekend, the track is a lot of fun and it all came together.
"It was a new track for everyone. I've always taken to new tracks quite well, it's challenging but I really like it when the track is technical and there is a lot to them so it suited me quite well."
