Jaminet, Campbell “Proved Our Worth” in GT-to-GTP Success

Photo: Porsche

Matt Campbell believes that he and Mathieu Jaminet have “proved our worth” as being among the top drivers that have made the successful transition from GT3 to GTP/Hypercar competition, as the Porsche Penske Motorsport pairing close in on the GTP championship title this weekend at Motul Petit Le Mans.

The Porsche factory duo, who were reunited as full-time co-drivers for the first time this season since winning the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD Pro title in a Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R in 2022, enter Saturday’s ten-hour enduro at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta with a 131-point lead in the GTP standings over teammates Nick Tandy and Felipe Nasr.

With the No. 6 Porsche 963 needing only a seventh place finish or higher in the 12-car GTP class, no matter where the No. 7 Porsche or the distant third-placed No. 24 Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 of Dries Vanthoor and Philipp Eng finish, Campbell and Jaminet, who are joined by Julien Andlauer this weekend, would bag their second IMSA title together in four years.

However, Jaminet cautioned the challenge ahead, referencing the 2023 race when he and then co-driver Tandy were caught up in a massive pileup on the backstretch that ended their championship bid.

“It’s obviously not the easiest race of the season to finish it off,” said Jaminet. “It’s ten hours; everything can happen. I know it very well. Two years ago, we got taken out with Nick, also fighting for a championship in the middle of the straight in very early, early hours of the race.

“Anything can happen. I think for us, it’s all about trying to stay out of trouble, trying to have a clean run, hopefully the cars survive and see where we are towards the end and hopefully also fight for our manufacturer championship and fight for a race.”

Campbell and Jaminet came through similar paths in Porsche single-make racing in Australia and Europe, respectively, before being promoted to factory pilots, initially in GT racing before the launch of the factory 963 program, where they were the first two confirmed drivers of the Porsche Penske lineup.

“Obviously we wanted to be a part of this project together from the very beginning,” said Campbell. “Unfortunately, we weren’t able to be teammates in the first years and it definitely hasn’t hindered our relationship.

“Also when we started again back to this year after a couple of seasons apart, it was just like we never left working with each other back in 2022.

“The working relationship has been fantastic. We have a lot of fun off track as well; [we’re] really good mates, which helps. It’s been good ever since we’ve been in GTP.

“I think we’ve quickly shown along with quite a few other drivers coming from the GT side of things into GTP the level of some of the GT3 drivers coming across, and I feel like we’ve definitely proved our worth.

“We’ve always been really competitive the last three seasons and in contention, like Mathieu mentioned, at some points heading these last races of the year, but definitely we haven’t been in a position we have been now in the past year, so hopefully that puts us in good stead.”

While the sister No. 7 Porsche won the first three races of the season, it wasn’t until the fourth round at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, where Jaminet and Campbell scored their first GTP win as co-drivers, that helped shift the momentum their way.

“Even though we still had a good start to the year because we did the first three rounds on the podium and being quite close to the sister car… It just somehow didn’t click until that Laguna win,” said Jaminet.

“We [were dealing with] a few struggles and things we couldn’t control here and there that made us struggle a bit more.

“And then I think from the moment we won in Laguna, the confidence really, in our side of the garage, built up and then the momentum kind of changed direction from that race on, especially just as the weekends after, we were definitely a little bit less competitive, and it was way harder to be fighting up front.

“This is where we maximized our chances. [We] didn’t really put a foot wrong and gained some really important points back and now we arrive in the lead.”

Andlauer Addition Made “All Kinds of Sense” to Complete No. 6 Lineup for Title Decider 

With regular IMSA endurance driver Kevin Estre unavailable, Jaminet said it made “all kinds of sense” to have Andlauer join them this weekend to help their championship bid.

“I know Julien pretty well,” said Jaminet. “I think he knows Matt as well. We had a chance to have a couple of races together back in GT. And I think he’s a good addition to the team.

“Kevin was initially not really available for that race, and the management put the trust into Julien in, which we also do.

“He’s been doing a fantastic job in WEC this year… every single race he’s done, so [there’s] no reason why this would change now going to Road Atlanta. He raced this last year in GTD Pro. So, it made all kinds of sense to have him on board.

“He’s also a good match as a person with Matt and myself being pretty chilled and laid back. So I think it should work well.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John