IMSA: Cameron tests for Risi, working on 2015 plans

California's Dane Cameron was signed and ready to race Daytona Prototypes this season in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. A late and unexpected withdrawal from Team Sahlen left the son of Spirit of Daytona engineer Ricky Cameron scrambling to land a new opportunity, and it eventually came in the form of a GT Daytona ride with Turner Motorsport (LEFT, LAT photo).

Four wins from nine races has placed Cameron atop the GTD points in a 5-way tie with two rounds left to run, and he's also recently helped the Risi Competizione GT Le Mans team prepare for the next event at Circuit of The Americas as the VIR race winners push to end their season on a high note.

Cameron impressed Risi while sharing the team's Ferrari F458 with Formula 1 veteran Giancarlo Fisichella as a stand-in at Long Beach, and says he enjoyed being drafted in for another taste of GTLM experience with the former ALMS GT champions.

"It was really fun to get another chance to jump into the Risi Ferrari and help with testing and development before COTA," he told RACER. "We built a good relationship and everybody got on really well at Long Beach, and I enjoyed my time on the team and time in the car. We said we wanted to work together again if the opportunity came about or presented itself, and with Giancarlo and Pierre [Kaffer] committed elsewhere, they rang me up and I was happy to help."

The chance to drive for Risi at Long Beach came after the team experienced two massive crashes at Daytona and Sebring, leaving no time for Cameron to get a feel for the car prior to opening practice on the legendary street course. Having time to learn the F458 at COTA was a luxury he hopes will benefit all parties.

"They wanted to run the car at COTA before the race and work on some more development items, and it's a tough category to get the mileage in," he added. "To have two days by myself in that car isn't something that you get very often, and it was nice to come back and really dig into its handling and sort through some of the nuances.

"It was also good seat time for me to get tuned up for COTA and our run at the GTD championship, and it was fun to get more experience in GTLM machinery and get to know everyone at Risi a little bit better."

After losing his ride in the off-season, Cameron's yearn in Turner Motorsport's BMW Z4 has been far more successful than anyone could have imagined. Co-driver/car owner Paul Dalla Lana has made occasional starts since shifting his focus to the World Endurance Championship, and in his absence, Finland's Markus Palttala has starred alongside Cameron as the Turner team learns about the GT3-spec Z4 during its first season in the TUDOR Championship.

What started as a mildly chaotic situation for Cameron entering 2014 has turned into a showcase for talents as he looks to secure is future in the series. A return to Turner's team would continue the momentum they've built, yet with so few programs confirmed at the moment, Cameron will continue assessing his options.

"We've had a good year with Turner so far, and it's all due to Paul Dalla Lana and the team," he noted. "You always like to end the season and go into the off-season on a strong note. To have won four races, and hopefully we can win another one or two, and more importantly, to win the championship would be a great way to go into the off-season with great momentum and good stock value, I guess you could say, which just hopefully could make things a little bit easier when it comes to finding a home for next year. We'll see what that may be.

"Obviously the first year in the combined series has seen many changes across all categories and within all the teams, and we don't have much time off between the final race and the start of testing for 2015. The last couple of years I usually had most of my things sewn up by this point, but when you think there's only two races left and a lot of deals will get done in a short timeframe, it definitely makes you want to lock everything down pretty quickly.

"I'd love to continue on with Turner and BMW, and the Z4 has been great. We'll see where that program goes and whatever else may pop up, and be able to stay in GTD or go to GTLM or Prototype."

With experience in P2, DP (RIGHT), PC, GTLM and GTD, Cameron is also thankful to be uniquely positioned among TUDOR Championship drivers.

"I think I've proven myself in every category now and I think I've been one of the few lucky drivers in the past 12 months to have raced in every single category in the TUDOR Championship with, I would like to think, some degree of success," he said. "I've been on pole in every category except for GTLM, and then on the podium and won races in two of the categories. I think I've proven I can jump in anything and I can get the job done. We'll see which one of those opportunities comes about at the right time for me."