Canberra driver Cameron Hill prepares for Bathurst 1000

So close yet so far.

Yet the disappointment of that hairs-breadth miss in the first big enduro of the late season has been quietly parked by the 26-year-old Canberra driver because an even bigger challenge awaits at Mt Panorama this weekend: the history-soaked Bathurst 1000, the most watched motor race on the entire Supercar calendar.

It will be Hill's second Supercar tilt at the Great Race on Sunday and he knows he's seen as a "smokey" during a development year, when he's still finding time in the car and in himself, changing up his driving style, and progressively getting quicker.

His Sandown qualifying time, outpacing drivers who have been in the category for years, was no fluke. During the race, the Matt Stone Racing Chevrolet felt good - possibly as good as it has all year - until a suspension bolt broke.

"When I have confidence in the car, I don't think I leave anything on the table," Hill said.

"But if the car is a bit ugly to drive then I probably become a little conservative because I don't want to bend it."

Flying under the radar for this year's most-hyped event suits the former Porsche Carrera Cup champion just fine. He will be sharing Car 35 with little-known 20-year-old Victorian Jaylyn Robotham, a former BMX champion.

The big unknown at every Bathurst but one which often pre-determines the confidence levels that each team has in the lead-up is how the car feels to drive after it is rolled out of the truck, into the pit garage, and prepped for practice.

Hill will know straight away, as soon as he gives the Chevrolet V8 its head up the Mountain Straight climb, hooks right on Griffins Bend and barrels into The Cutting.

"If you don't roll out strong [at Bathurst], then at least you do have the opportunity to change things up," he said.

"Whereas at some of these other events with the short formats, if you don't roll out strong then you are chasing your tail all weekend.

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"But equally, if you do roll out strong, then that's a really good sign, you can start to refine the package; you don't have to start making big swings at things."

Hill looked at the nasty weather heading into regional NSW this week and walked the 6.213km track on Tuesday after he first arrived, while the weather was pleasant and the first of the weekend campers were starting to peg their tents.

He looked for any little changes to the circuit; where there had been any track degradation or cracking, or perhaps a new metal plate was fitted over a storm water drain line. Unlike dedicated race circuits, Mt Panorama is a 60km per hour public road after all, and is driven all year road, mostly by tourists who can't believe how steep it is compared with how it looks on television. It changes and ages, sometimes in subtle ways.

"It's always nice to go up the mountain early, have look out over Skyline, re-acquaint yourself with the place," Hill said.

Wednesday is for the "meet and greets": signing autographs for the fans and meeting up with sponsors. Knowing weather changes are likely, the team will have a few different set-up combinations prepared just in case. Then it's time for some pit stop practice and driver change practice.

"We'll try to get as much of that stuff away early before the weekend," Hill said.

Thursday is when things start to get busy.

"One of the best ways to approach Bathurst as a team is to work backwards from race day and keep your tyres in as good a nick as you can," Hill said.

"We have a tyre allocation for the entire weekend of 15 sets. Three of those sets are practice only. So you've got 12 sets basically to navigate the weekend.

"But three sets isn't enough to get through your four practice sessions so you're going to have to manage that.

"So we will start to do some race work Thursday, try the car with different fuel loads in, see what the tyre life is like.

"But to be honest, Thursday is pretty much getting the drivers comfortable in the car. We'll probably split the practice session 50-50 with [co-driver]. For practice, he'll probably be doing long runs, heavy fuel, that sort of thing."

"We will know by Friday what we've got in terms of car speed," he said.

"If the car is on the money, we will give it a big crack for the top 10 [qualifying] and the race.

"I think this year's race is as open as it has been in years."

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