Difference between revisions of "Gary Cameron"

Latest revision as of 12:37, 2 May 2016

Gary Cameron

Nationality	British
Born	22 January 1979 Sunderland, England
Former Teams	Calinetic Prospec
Races	69 (58 starts)
Championships	1 (2010)
Victories	2
Podiums	7
Points	123
Pole Positions	4
Fastest Laps	3
First Race	2010 German Grand Prix
First Victory	2011 Dutch Grand Prix
Last Victory	2012 Surfers SuperPrix
Last Race	2014 North Sea Grand Prix
Best Finish	1st (2010)

Gary Cameron (born 22 January 1979 in Sunderland, England) is a former British racing driver known for winning the inaugural season of the Formula 1 Rejects World Race Series, a title he won without scoring a single race victory. Cameron became a veteran of the sport, before retiring part-way through the 2014 season in order to allow him to focus on the management of the Prospec team which was taken over by a consortium led by Cameron earlier in the year.

Cameron's first year in the F1RWRS, with the Jamaican Team Calinetic was a highly successful one, with measured consistency earning him the title. He scored points in eight of the nine races that made up the F1RWRS' first season, and stood on the podium three times, with a best result of second place at the British Grand Prix. He edged out Frank Zimmer and Dan BH for the title in what proved to be a highly competitive field, winning the championship by just two points.

Gary stayed with Calinetic for 2011 in anticipation of further success, but his challenge faltered soon on, and despite winning his first race at the Dutch GP, he finished well behind eventual champion Nathanael Spencer and runner-up Daniel Melrose, thus having to settle for third overall.

The 2012 season marked the start of the decline in Cameron's fortunes, initially he decided to remain with Team Calinetic for a third season, but it soon became apparent that the team had lost their way, and he left the team after the sixth race of the year at Zandvoort. He moved across to the Prospec team which up until that point had been in the unusual situation of running a single car for reigning champion Spencer. Cameron slotted straight in and whilst he qualified for all the remaining races of the year, he rarely scored points. The high point was his second, and last career victory in the Surfers SuperPrix, and Cameron ended the year 16th overall with 22 points.

Unfortunately for Cameron it appeared that Prospec themselves were on an irreversible decline, and although Gary remained with the by now legendary British team for 2013, it was clear from the outset that ambitions would have to be set low. Ultimately Cameron struggled to just a single points finish all year at the French Grand Prix and failed to make the grid at all in The Netherlands and Portugal. The management at Prospec, a group of mostly hobbyist engineers and mechanics, had been left behind by the ever-increasing professionalism of the F1RWRS, evidenced by the resorting in 2013 to Lamborghini engines in desperation after their own in-house unit had proven to be off the pace the previous year. Cameron could see that the team was headed for oblivion unless someone stepped in, and prior to the 2014 season, he led a consortium of business leaders under the moniker of the Pemberton Group in a buy out of the Prospec team.

As the public face of the Group, Cameron took over the reins at the team and began to implement a series of changes to try and turn Prospec around. He started the season driving alongside fellow veteran Dave Simpson but the Australian agreed to move aside after only three races to allow pay driver Jean-Luc Schiller to come in. Schiller himself was not without talent as he scored the team's only points of the year with a sixth place in Italy, but Cameron struggled with the burden of team management alongside driving duties and he reluctantly announced his retirement from professional driving following the North Sea GP. Another pay driver, Chinese female Du Lei filled the vacated seat and Cameron retreated to the pit wall in order to focus his efforts on a better 2015 campaign.

Complete F1RWRS Results

• † Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.