Friday, 17 April 2026

Lap 5 collision and excursion leaves Cameron Hill last at Ruapuna

Original by V8 Slueuth, Cropped by me.
 Cameron Hill (#14 Electro-Voice/Jayco Toyota) finished last in the second race at Ruapuna. He finished six laps down. The finish came in Hill’s 58th start.

Cameron Hill is in his 4th full-time Championship season. He was previously at Red Bull in 2022 while racing for Super 2. Hill won a race in 2025 at Albert Park. Hill moved to Brad Jones Racing for the 2026 season. He was the slowest practice driver, but dramatically improved to 12th in qualifying.

Jackson Walls (#11 Objective Ford) started the race last. The last-place race was short. On Lap 5, David Reynolds (#20 Snowy River Caravans Chevrolet) bumped Jobe Stewart (#9 Erebus Chevrolet). The contact sent Stewart into Cameron Hill (#14 Electro-Voice/Jayco Toyota) at Turn 4.

Hill would suffer steering damage in the collision. He went off at Turn 4 and drove back onto the track at Turn 11. Hill would briefly take the lead, but pitted with steering damage. Andre Heimgartner (#8 R&J Batteries Toyota) would pit on the same lap with his own steering damage. Both drivers lost 6 laps in repairs.

Hill and Heimgartner would finish last and second last.

The rest of the Bottom Five took the race to complete, and 22nd went to Jackson Walls (#11 Objective Ford). David Reynolds (#20 Snowy River Caravans Chevrolet) finished 21st after a 15-second time penalty for contact with Stewart and Hill. Declan Fraser (#777 Nulon Chevrolet) spun after attempting a late-race pass on Chaz Mostert.

 

The Bottom Five

Cameron Hill

30 Laps

Running

Andre Heimgartner

31 Laps

Running

Jackson Walls

37 Laps

Running

David Reynolds

37 Laps

Running

Declan Fraser

37 Laps

Running

 

Driver’s Championship

Pos

Driver

Last

Bottom 3

Bottom 5

1

Cooper Murray

2

4

6

2

Jackson Walls

2

4

5

3

Jobe Stewart

1

5

6

4

Cameron Hill

1

2

2

5

Aaron Cameron

1

1

4

6T

Matt Payne

1

1

2

6T

David Reynolds

1

1

2

8T

Chaz Mostert

1

1

1

8T

James Golding

1

1

1

10

Macauley Jones

0

4

5

11T

Kai Allen

0

2

2

11T

Andre Heimgartner

0

2

2

13

Declan Fraser

0

1

3

14T

Thomas Randle

0

1

1

14T

Broc Feeney

0

1

1

14T

Zach Bates

0

1

1

17

Rylan Gray

0

0

3

18T

Will Brown

0

0

2

18T

Ryan Wood

0

0

2

19

Jayden Ojeda

0

0

1

 

Team’s Championship

Pos

Driver

#

Last

Bottom 3

Bottom 5

1

Erebus Motorsports

2

3/2

9/2

12/2

2

Brad Jones Racing

3

2/3

6/3

8/3

3

Blanchard Racing Team

2

2/2

3/2

6/2

4

Overdrive/RBR Racing

2

2/2

3/2

4/2

5

Grove Racing

2

1/2

3/2

3/2

6T

Walkinshaw Andretti United

2

1/2

1/2

2/2

6T

Team 18 Racing

2

1/2

1/2

2/2

8

Premair Racing

2

0

3/2

5/2

9

Matt Stone Racing

2

0

2/2

2/2

10

Dick Johnson Racing

2

0

1/2

4/2

11

Red Bull Racing

2

0

1/2

3/2

12

Tickford Racing

2

0

1/2

2/2

 

Manufacturer’s Championship

Pos

Manufacturer

#

Last

Bottom 3

Bottom 5

1

Chevrolet

8

5/8

18/8

26/8

2

Ford

11

4/11

10/11

17/11

3

Toyota

5

2/5

5/5

9/5

 

 



Start line crash leaves Reynolds last at Ruapuna

Credit: Supercars
David Reynolds (#20 Snowy River Caravans Chevrolet) finished last for the 15th time in his career. The finish came after a 3-car crash at the start/finish line ended his race. The finish came in Reynolds’ 500th start.

David Reynolds is a Supercars veteran and has been racing since 2009 full-time and 2007 as a co-driver. His best Championship result of 3rd in 2015. In 2021, he became infamous for lying about his vaccination status, which got him barred from several rounds of the championship. Reynolds’ first full-time season was with Walkinshaw Racing, then moved to Kelly Racing for a year after only doing endurance events in 2010. Reynolds then moved to Rod Nash Racing from 2011 to 2015 before he moved to Erebus Motorsports in 2016. He stayed until 2021, when he moved to Kelly Grove Racing, which then became Grove Racing in 2022. In 2024, Reynolds would replace Mark Winterbottom at Team 18 Racing. Reynolds was 18th in Practice 1 and qualifying.

Jackson Walls (#11 Objective Ford) started the race last. The first incident of the race happened almost immediately.

David Reynolds (#20 Snowy River Caravans Chevrolet) and Macauley Jones (#96 JWL/Coregas Toyota) collided. The crash got worse as they hit Cameron Hill (#14 Electro-Voice/Jayco Chevrolet). Reynolds’ and Hill’s cars suffered terminal damage, although all three cars limped back to the pits. Hill briefly returned to the racetrack, which left Reynolds last. Jones would lose 2 laps in repairs.

There was chaos in the crash's aftermath. A flag marshal thought the Safety Car was out and waved the yellow flag. Confused drivers did not know whether they could race, causing drama. Several drivers lost positions, and Aaron Cameron (#3 Liqui Moly Ford) suffered damage in the aftermath. Cameron would finish 20th. Jackson Walls (#11 Objective Ford) would also finish in the Bottom Five.

 

The Bottom Five

David Reynolds

0 Laps

Crash

Cameron Hill

5 Laps

Crash

Macauley Jones

35 Laps

Running

Jackson Walls

37 Laps

Running

Aaron Cameron

37 Laps

Running

 

Driver’s Championship

Pos

Driver

Last

Bottom 3

Bottom 5

1

Cooper Murray

2

4

6

2

Jackson Walls

2

3

4

3

Jobe Stewart

1

5

6

4

Aaron Cameron

1

1

4

5

Matt Payne

1

1

2

6T

Chaz Mostert

1

1

1

6T

James Golding

1

1

1

6T

David Reynolds

1

1

1

9

Macauley Jones

0

4

5

10

Kai Allen

0

2

2

11

Declan Fraser

0

1

2

12T

Andre Heimgartner

0

1

1

12T

Thomas Randle

0

1

1

12T

Broc Feeney

0

1

1

12T

Zach Bates

0

1

1

12T

Cameron Hill

0

1

1

17

Rylan Gray

0

0

3

18T

Will Brown

0

0

2

18T

Ryan Wood

0

0

2

19

Jayden Ojeda

0

0

1

 

Team’s Championship

Pos

Driver

#

Last

Bottom 3

Bottom 5

1

Erebus Motorsports

2

3/2

9/2

12/2

2

Blanchard Racing Team

2

2/2

3/2

6/2

3

Overdrive/RBR Racing

2

2/2

3/2

4/2

4

Grove Racing

2

1/2

3/2

3/2

5

Walkinshaw Andretti United

2

1/2

1/2

2/2

6

Team 18 Racing

2

1/2

1/2

1/2

7T

Brad Jones Racing

3

1/3

4/3

6/3

7T

Premair Racing

2

0

3/2

4/2

9T

Red Bull Racing

2

0

1/2

3/2

9T

Matt Stone Racing

2

0

2/2

2/2

11

Tickford Racing

2

0

1/2

2/2

12

Dick Johnson Racing

2

0

0

3/2

 

Manufacturer’s Championship

Pos

Manufacturer

#

Last

Bottom 3

Bottom 5

1

Chevrolet

8

5/8

18/8

24/8

2

Ford

11

4/11

10/11

17/11

3

Toyota

5

1/5

3/5

7/5