# Cameron McConville

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 for Network Ten's Australian coverage of Formula One. McConville announced his retirement from full-time racing for the end of the 2009 season. He is also rumoured to be The Stig in Top Gear Australia.
McConville now works with Porsche Centre Melbourne as the Motorsport Commercial Manager.

## Early years

McConville began his motor racing career at the age of eight racing go-karts in first local then national championships, culminating in several Victorian titles. At the age of fifteen, he became the youngest ever holder of a CAMS racing licence with a brief foray into Formula Vee racing before moving onto the highly competitive Formula Ford racing category in 1991. In 1992 he was chosen to be the 'works' Van Diemen driver and he won the prestigious Motorcraft Formula Ford Driver to Europe Series beating future champions such as Craig Lowndes and Steven Richards.
This victory (he was the youngest ever winner of the series) drew national attention and a testing role with Dick Johnson's Shell Ultra-hi Racing. McConville impressed Johnson and was included in the driver line up for the 1992 Tooheys 1000 in the team's second Ford 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 of Terry Shiel and Greg 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 the 1993 Tooheys 1000, where he paired with Paul Radisich in Shell team's second Ford EB Falcon V8. Unfortunately, whilst in third position, and under pressure from Tomas Mezera in the Holden Racing Team VP 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 winning Larry Perkins/Gregg Hansford Commodore. McConville's crash at Mount 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 prominent Melbourne businessman Tom Warwick to drive a Porsche 993 RSCS in the Australian GTP championship during the 1996 season. He won the series in the last race of the year beating championship favourite Jim Richards. In 1997 he was chosen to replace Greg Murphy as the Audi Australia 'works' driver (largely due to his success the previous year) where he finished third in the Australian Super Touring Championship. In 1998 he was narrowly beaten to the championship by team owner Brad Jones in somewhat controversial circumstances.

## Supercars career

An impressive part-time drive in the 1999 V8 Supercar championship saw the Holden Racing Team offer McConville an endurance co-drive, pairing up with the then championship leader Craig Lowndes. Together they finished in second place at the Bathurst 1000 race. This performance earned him a full-time contract with the newly expanded Rod Nash Racing for 2000. In 2001 he moved to the Sydney-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 the Garry Rogers Motorsport outfit in 2004 after he was the outright winner of the Bathurst 24 hour race in 2002 in a Holden 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 at Winton Raceway in 2004. In 2005 he took on team leader status at GRM with the departure of Garth Tander to the HSV dealer team. The following year, McConville was lured to Kees and Paul Weel's Supercheap Auto Racing outfit to pair with Greg Murphy after the retirement of Paul Weel in 2005.
In 2007, Cameron began a new motorsport reporting role with Channel Ten, including co-hosting the Formula One coverage.
In 2008, he joined up with his former boss Brad Jones to drive the number 14 Commodore after the team made the switch from Ford to Holden 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 the Adelaide 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 the Phillip 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 the Holden Racing Team.
McConville stepped back into a race car at the 2010 Bathurst 12 Hour and co-drove a HSV R8 Tourer to third place. Subsequently, McConville picked up a drive in the 2010 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series driving the Eggleston Motorsport Commodore which also enjoyed support from Holden Racing Team's parent organisation Walkinshaw Performance eager to get McConville additional racing prior to the 2010 endurance races. In the lead up to the 2010 Sucrogen Townsville 400, Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport announced that McConville would be replacing Daniel Gaunt in the team in the short term.
McConville was a last minute entrant for Team BOC at the Falken Tasmania Challenge of the 2011 V8 Supercars Championship. He replaced Jason Bright in Race 24, who withdrew after qualifying due to a rib injury. McConville started at the rear of the field and finished 19th.

## Career results

| Season | Series | Position | Car | Entrant / team |
| 1991 | Motorcraft Formula Ford Driver to Europe Series | 8th | Van Diemen RF91 Ford | Anderson Consulting / Ken McConville |
| 1992 | Motorcraft Formula Ford Driver to Europe Series | 1st | Van Diemen RF92 Ford | Anderson Consulting |
| 1996 | Australian GT Production Car Championship | 1st | Porsche 993 RSCS | Warwick Fabrics |
| 1997 | Australian Super Touring Championship | 3rd | Audi A4 Quattro | Brad Jones Racing |
| 1998 | Australian Super Touring Championship | 2nd | Audi A4 Quattro | Brad Jones Racing |
| 1999 | Shell Championship Series | 17th | Holden VS Commodore Holden VT Commodore | John Faulkner Racing Holden Racing Team |
| 2000 | Shell Championship Series | 27th | Holden VT Commodore | Rod Nash Racing |
| 2001 | Shell Championship Series | 21st | Holden VX Commodore | Lansvale Racing Team |
| 2002 | V8 Supercar Championship Series | 28th | Holden VX Commodore | Lansvale Racing Team |
| 2003 | V8 Supercar Championship Series | 18th | Holden VX Commodore | Lansvale Racing Team |
| 2004 | V8 Supercar Championship Series | 13th | Holden VY Commodore | Garry Rogers Motorsport |
| 2005 | V8 Supercar Championship Series | 10th | Holden VZ Commodore | Garry Rogers Motorsport |
| 2006 | V8 Supercar Championship Series | 13th | Holden VZ Commodore | Paul Weel Racing |
| 2007 | V8 Supercar Championship Series | 34th | Holden VE Commodore | Paul Weel Racing |
| 2008 | V8 Supercar Championship Series | 22nd | Holden VE Commodore | Brad Jones Racing |
| 2009 | V8 Supercar Championship Series | 20th | Holden VE Commodore | Brad Jones Racing |
| 2010 | Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series | 22nd | Holden VE Commodore | Eggleston Motorsport |
| 2010 | V8 Supercar Championship Series | 29th | Holden VE Commodore | Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport Holden Racing Team |
| 2011 | International V8 Supercars Championship | 34th | Holden VE Commodore | Holden Racing Team Brad Jones Racing |
| 2011 | Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series | 24th | Holden VE Commodore | Eggleston Motorsport |
| 2011 | Australian V8 Ute Racing Series | 5th | Holden VE Ute SS | Walkinshaw Racing |
| 2012 | International V8 Supercars Championship | 34th | Holden VE Commodore | Holden Racing Team |
| 2012 | Australian V8 Ute Racing Series | 5th | Holden VE Ute SS | Walkinshaw Racing |
| 2014 | Australian GT Championship | 34th | Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 | Maranello Motorsport |
| 2014 | Kumho Tyres V8 Touring Car Series | 9th | Holden VZ Commodore | Eggleston Motorsport |
| 2015 | Australian GT Championship | 41st | Ferrari 458 Italia | Maranello Motorsport |
| 2015 | Australian Carrera Cup Championship | 14th | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Type 991 | OPS Gateway |
| 2016 | International V8 Supercars Championship | 33rd | Holden VF Commodore | Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport |
| 2017 | Virgin Australia Supercars Championship | 54th | Holden VF Commodore | Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport |
| 2017 | Australian Carrera Cup Championship | 7th | Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Type 991 | Zagame Autosport |

### Supercars Championship results

(Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Supercars results :
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | Position | Points |
| 1999 | John Faulkner Racing | Holden VS Commodore | EAS R1 | EAS R2 | EAS R3 | ADE R4 | BAR R5 | BAR R6 | BAR R7 | PHI R8 | PHI R9 | PHI R10 | HDV R11 | HDV R12 | HDV R13 | SAN R14 22 | SAN R15 13 | SAN R16 13 | QLD R17 30 | QLD R18 Ret | QLD R19 DNS | CAL R20 11 | CAL R21 7 | CAL R22 6 | SYM R23 6 | SYM R24 7 | SYM R25 DNS | WIN R26 | WIN R27 | WIN R28 | ORA R29 | ORA R30 | ORA R31 | QLD R32 3 | BAT R33 2 | | | | | | 17th | 770 |
| 2000 | Rod Nash Racing | Holden VT Commodore | PHI R1 | PHI R2 | BAR R3 | BAR R4 | BAR R5 | ADE R6 | ADE R7 | EAS R8 | EAS R9 | EAS R10 | HDV R11 | HDV R12 | HDV R13 | CAN R14 | CAN R15 | CAN R16 | QLD R17 | QLD R18 | QLD R19 | WIN R20 | WIN R21 | WIN R22 | ORA R23 | ORA R24 | ORA R25 | CAL R26 | CAL R27 | CAL R28 | QLD R29 | SAN R30 | SAN R31 | SAN R32 | BAT R33 | | | | | | | |
| 2001 | Lansvale Racing Team | Holden VX Commodore | PHI R1 | PHI R2 | ADE R3 | ADE R4 | EAS R5 | EAS R6 | HDV R7 | HDV R8 | HDV R9 | CAN R10 | CAN R11 | CAN R12 | BAR R13 | BAR R14 | BAR R15 | CAL R16 | CAL R17 | CAL R18 | ORA R19 | ORA R20 | QLD R21 | WIN R22 | WIN R23 | BAT R24 | PUK R25 | PUK R26 | PUK R27 | SAN R28 | SAN R29 | SAN R30 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 2002 | Lansvale Racing Team | Holden VX Commodore | ADE R1 | ADE R2 | PHI R3 | PHI R4 | EAS R5 | EAS R6 | EAS R7 | HDV R8 | HDV R9 | HDV R10 | CAN R11 | CAN R12 | CAN R13 | BAR R14 | BAR R15 | BAR R16 | ORA R17 | ORA R18 | WIN R19 | WIN R20 | QLD R21 | BAT R22 | SUR R23 | SUR R24 | PUK R25 | PUK R26 | PUK R27 | SAN R28 | SAN R29 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 2003 | Lansvale Racing Team | Holden VX Commodore | ADE R1 8 | ADE R1 Ret | PHI R3 Ret | EAS R4 12 | WIN R5 17 | BAR R6 21 | BAR R7 8 | BAR R8 9 | HDV R9 23 | HDV R10 14 | HDV R11 14 | QLD R12 15 | ORA R13 9 | SAN R14 Ret | BAT R15 20 | SUR R16 19 | SUR R17 15 | PUK R18 Ret | PUK R19 18 | PUK R20 20 | EAS R21 10 | EAS R22 8 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 18th | 1191 |
| 2004 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Holden VY Commodore | ADE R1 | ADE R2 | EAS R3 | PUK R4 | PUK R5 | PUK R6 | HDV R7 | HDV R8 | HDV R9 | BAR R10 | BAR R11 | BAR R12 | QLD R13 | WIN R14 | ORA R15 | ORA R16 | SAN R17 | BAT R18 | SUR R19 | SUR R20 | SYM R21 | SYM R22 | SYM R23 | EAS R24 | EAS R25 | EAS R26 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 2005 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Holden VZ Commodore | ADE R1 | ADE R2 | PUK R3 | PUK R4 | PUK R5 | BAR R6 | BAR R7 | BAR R8 | EAS R9 | EAS R10 | SHA R11 | SHA R12 | SHA R13 | HDV R14 | HDV R15 | HDV R16 | QLD R17 | ORA R18 | ORA R19 | SAN R20 | BAT R21 | SUR R22 | SUR R23 | SUR R24 | SYM R25 | SYM R26 | SYM R27 | PHI R28 | PHI R29 | PHI R30 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 2006 | Paul Weel Racing | Holden VZ Commodore | ADE R1 | ADE R2 | PUK R3 | PUK R4 | PUK R5 | BAR R6 | BAR R7 | BAR R8 | WIN R9 | WIN R10 | WIN R11 | HDV R12 | HDV R13 | HDV R14 | QLD R15 | QLD R16 | QLD R17 | ORA R18 | ORA R19 | ORA R20 | SAN R21 | BAT R22 | SUR R23 | SUR R24 | SUR R25 | SYM R26 | SYM R27 | SYM R28 | BHR R29 | BHR R30 | BHR R31 | PHI R32 | PHI R33 | PHI R34 | | | | | | |
| 2007 | Paul Weel Racing | Holden VE Commodore | ADE R1 | ADE R2 | BAR R3 | BAR R4 | BAR R5 | PUK R6 | PUK R7 | PUK R8 | WIN R9 | WIN R10 | WIN R11 | EAS R12 | EAS R13 | EAS R14 | HDV R15 | HDV R16 | HDV R17 | QLD R18 | QLD R19 | QLD R20 | ORA R21 | ORA R22 | ORA R23 | SAN R24 | BAT R25 | SUR R26 | SUR R27 | SUR R28 | BHR R29 | BHR R30 | BHR R31 | SYM R32 | SYM R33 | SYM R34 | PHI R35 | PHI R36 | PHI R37 | | | |
| 2008 | Brad Jones Racing | Holden VE Commodore | ADE R1 | ADE R2 | EAS R3 | EAS R4 | EAS R5 | HAM R6 | HAM R7 | HAM R8 | BAR R9 | BAR R10 | BAR R11 | SAN R12 | SAN R13 | SAN R14 | HDV R15 | HDV R16 | HDV R17 | QLD R18 | QLD R19 | QLD R20 | WIN R21 | WIN R22 | WIN R23 | PHI Q | PHI R24 | BAT R25 | SUR R26 | SUR R27 | SUR R28 | BHR R29 | BHR R30 | BHR R31 | SYM R32 | SYM R33 | SYM R34 | ORA R35 | ORA R36 | ORA R37 | | |
| 2009 | Brad Jones Racing | Holden VE Commodore | ADE R1 | ADE R2 | HAM R3 | HAM R4 | WIN R5 | WIN R6 | SYM R7 | SYM R8 | HDV R9 | HDV R10 | TOW R11 | TOW R12 | SAN R13 | SAN R14 | QLD R15 | QLD R16 | PHI Q | PHI R17 | BAT R18 | SUR R19 | SUR R20 | SUR R21 | SUR R22 | PHI R23 | PHI R24 | BAR R25 | BAR R26 | SYD R27 | SYD R28 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 2010 | Holden Racing Team | Holden VE Commodore | YMC R1 | YMC R2 | BHR R3 | BHR R4 | ADE R5 | ADE R6 | HAM R7 | HAM R8 | QLD R9 | QLD R10 | WIN R11 | WIN R12 | HDV R13 | HDV R14 | TOW R15 | TOW R16 | PHI R17 | BAT R18 | SUR R19 | SUR R20 | SYM R21 | SYM R22 | SAN R23 | SAN R24 | SYD R25 | SYD R26 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 2011 | Holden Racing Team | Holden VE Commodore | YMC R1 | YMC R2 | ADE R3 | ADE R4 | HAM R5 | HAM R6 | BAR R7 | BAR R8 | BAR R9 | WIN R10 | WIN R11 | HID R12 | HID R13 | TOW R14 | TOW R15 | QLD R16 | QLD R17 | QLD R18 | PHI R19 | BAT R20 | SUR R21 | SUR R22 | SYM R23 | SYM R24 | SAN R25 | SAN R26 | SYD R27 | SYD R28 | | | | | | | | | | | | |

## Bathurst 1000 results

| Year | Car# | Team | Car | Co-driver | Position | Laps |
| 1992 | 18 | Dick Johnson Racing | Ford Sierra RS500 | Terry Shiel Greg Crick | 11th | 134 |
| 1993 | 18 | Dick Johnson Racing | Ford EB Falcon | Paul Radisich | 8th | 151 |
| 1994 | 39 | Challenge Motorsport | Holden VP Commodore | Chris Smerdon | 13th | 151 |
| 1996 | 10 | Larkham Motor Sport | Ford EF Falcon | Mark Larkham | DNF | 3 |
| 1997* | 11 | Brad Jones Racing | Audi A4 Quattro | Jean-François Hemroulle | 3rd | 161 |
| 1998* | 1 | Brad Jones Racing | Audi A4 Quattro | Brad Jones | 3rd | 161 |
| 1998 | 18 | Dick Johnson Racing | Ford EL Falcon | John Bowe | DNF | 80 |
| 1999 | 1 | Holden Racing Team | Holden VT Commodore | Craig Lowndes | 2nd | 161 |
| 2000 | 54 | Rod Nash Racing | Holden VT Commodore | Geoff Brabham | DNF | 105 |
| 2001 | 3 | Lansvale Racing Team | Holden VX Commodore | Rick Bates | 10th | 160 |
| 2002 | 3 | Lansvale Racing Team | Holden VX Commodore | Warren Luff | 15th | 159 |
| 2003 | 3 | Lansvale Racing Team | Holden VX Commodore | Tim Leahey | 20th | 144 |
| 2004 | 34 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Holden VY Commodore | Garth Tander | DNF | 133 |
| 2005 | 34 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Holden VZ Commodore | Andrew Jones | 4th | 161 |
| 2006 | 51 | Paul Weel Racing | Holden VZ Commodore | Greg Murphy | DNF | 104 |
| 2007 | 50 | Paul Weel Racing | Holden VE Commodore | David Reynolds | DNS | 0 |
| 2008 | 12 | Brad Jones Racing | Holden VE Commodore | Andrew Jones | DNF | 40 |
| 2009 | 8 | Brad Jones Racing | Holden VE Commodore | Jason Richards | 2nd | 161 |
| 2010 | 2 | Holden Racing Team | Holden VE Commodore | Garth Tander | 3rd | 161 |
| 2011 | 1 | Holden Racing Team | Holden VE Commodore | James Courtney | 7th | 161 |
| 2012 | 22 | Holden Racing Team | Holden VE Commodore | James Courtney | 4th | 161 |
| 2016 | 222 | Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport | Holden VF Commodore | Nick Percat | 3rd | 161 |
* Super Touring race

### Complete Bathurst 24 Hour results

| Year | Team | Co-drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Overall position | Class position |
| 2002 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Garth Tander Steven Richards Nathan Pretty | Holden Monaro 427C | 1 | 532 | 1st | 1st |
| 2003 | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Nathan Pretty Garth Tander Steven Richards | Holden Monaro 427C | A | 527 | 2nd | 2nd |