With a political race behind him, Liberal Wollongong state election contender Cameron Walters is again aiming for victory – this time on a more familiar track.
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Beaten to the March 28 state election finish line by incumbent Labor MP Noreen Hay, the 23-year-old was back behind the wheel of his beloved race car this week in preparation for Round 4 of the Australian Formula Ford series.
After two rounds in Victoria, the racing at Sydney Motorsport Park this weekend is the ‘‘home round’’ for Walters.
The Cameron Walters Racing team finished second at Philip Island, but ranked fourth in the most-recent round at the Winton Motor Raceway after a couple of ‘‘incidents’’.
‘‘We kind of went home with all the body panels hanging off the car and...it looked like the car had been stripped down to the bare chassis,’’ he said.
‘‘But, we still managed to hold that car together and get across the line for fourth.’’
Walters missed the start of the series but has fared well on the track since.
‘‘The date of the first round was March 28...I couldn’t be in two places at once,’’ he said.
‘‘We’re back into third place [overall] already and we’re fighting hard. It’s a bit harder this year, there’s a lot more competition...[but] it’s making me drive better.’’
Walters had his car on show at Stuart Park, Wollongong, this week, thanking the Illawarra for backing him.
‘‘The community support’s massive – we’re one of the most heavily sponsored in racing in Formula Ford,’’ he said.
Walters described the sport as a mental game that was all about strategy.
‘‘At the last moment, one decision can make or break a race,’’ he said.
‘‘In other sports I play, like tennis, you get to play it out over three sets and if you lose the first you can come back in the second.
‘‘In racing, if you make a move and it goes horribly wrong well you’re straight out – it’s an instant kind of death scenario. It’s the sprint factor that really gets me into it.’’
As for future political races, Walters has pulled the handbrake on that idea – for now.
‘‘The focus for the rest of the year is racing and we’ll look to the [political] future next year, I guess.’’
To follow Walters on the track, search ‘‘Cameron Walters Racing’’ on Facebook.
