Campbell: Bathurst Has Been “Extremely Kind” to Me

Photo: Gruppe C Photography/SRO

Matt Campbell is relishing the chance to go for his third overall victory in the Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour, admitting that Mount Panorama has been “extremely kind” to him in his career.

The Porsche factory driver and Ayhancan Guven are seeking back-to-back race wins, having moved over to Absolute Racing’s Porsche 911 GT3 R for this weekend’s around-the-clock enduro with Alessio Picariello.

Campbell, a Porsche Penske Motorsport driver in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship, burst onto the international motorsports scene at Bathurst, most notably in the 12 Hour.

The Queenslander claimed a Pro-Am class win in 2017 with Competition Motorsports before winning the race outright in 2019 with a daring late-race pass for the victory with Earl Bamber Motorsport.

He backed it up last year with top honors for Manthey EMA.

“I’m excited to be back again,” Campbell told Sportscar365. “Obviously we’ve had a fantastic run over the handful of years. We’ve always been really, really strong and racing at the front towards the end.

“Coming off the back of last year, for sure we’d love to replicate something similar.

“I’m back with Absolute with a slightly amended driver lineup compared to last year but I’m not new to Absolute after being with them in 2020.

“It should be easy to slot in; I know the team already. They know the car well now after a couple of seasons.

“I think it will be trying to treat the weekend like a normal Bathurst weekend, try and not do anything special and hopefully we’re there at the end somewhere.”

With a GT3 field similar in size to last year, Campbell said he’s taking a near-identical approach to the weekend.

“It’s more or less exactly the same,” he said of the grid.

“At the end of the day, maybe with a little bit of weather mixed in there as well, there could be ten cars that can win the race.

“There’s some strong lineups like normal. For sure there’s always a few favorites in the field but I think it should be a fantastic race.

“I’m just looking forward to it. It’s always a highlight for me. It’s the only race I get to do back at home. To do Bathurst is always just fun for me.”

Campbell agreed when asked if Bathurst helped launch his career at the end of the last decade.

“For sure,” he said. “I think it also goes beyond the Bathurst 12 Hour. Even in Carrera Cup, that’s where I had my first round win and everything like that.

“Bathurst has been extremely kind to me over the years and I just really love the place. It’s my favorite track in the entire world — I may be a little bit biased — but really enjoy it.

“The Bathurst weekend too, for me, is just so different from Daytona or Petit or whatever. It’s a completely different feel and it’s just such a nice weekend for me.

“I usually have some family around and friends. The environment is always my favorite weekend of the entire year.”

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