Young gun to chase dream
QUEENSLAND motorsport wunderkind Matt Campbell is open to racing full-time in Supercars once his European career has been run and done.
The 22-year-old, who will race at the Gold Coast 600 this weekend as defending champion Shane van Gisbergen’s codriver, has already kicked some serious goals in his rise up the sport’s ranks.
Campbell last season blitzed the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia field to be crowned champion and this year has headed abroad to compete in the Porsche Supercup.
There he made an immediate impression by landing the first two pole positions of the season in Spain before taking race wins in Austria and Italy.
He sits third overall ahead of the final two races in Mexico on October 28 and 29 – a week after the Gold Coast 600.
Though yet to sign a contract for 2018, Campbell is determined to chase his international dream before one day returning to compete permanently in Australia’s top series.
“Obviously I would like to continue over there and try to make a career in Europe at the moment,” he told the Bulletin.
“I think I am still young enough to do so and especially trying to pursue that with Porsche. Hopefully I can stay there in the coming years and then maybe come back later in my career and continue in Australia (with Supercars).”
A favourable schedule has allowed Campbell to take part in the Enduro Cup this year and, after some mixed results, he is hungry for success on the Gold Coast to help van Gisbergen reduce his gap to points leader Fabian Coulthard.
The No.97 pairing were on for a podium at Sandown until a tyre failure and had a number of issues en route to fifth at Bathurst.
“My first stint especially was quite tough,” Campbell reflected on Bathurst, having appeared distressed on cameras after jumping out of the car.
I GOT TURNED AROUND ON MY OUT-LAP BY ANOTHER CAR AND THEN HALFWAY THROUGH THE STINT GOT HIT FROM BEHIND SO IT OBVIOUSLY WASN’T IDEAL ...
“I got turned around on my out-lap by another car and then halfway through the stint got hit from behind so it obviously wasn’t ideal and also I made a couple of small mistakes. Thankfully the other two of my stints ran a lot smoother.”
Campbell placed eighth on debut at the Surfers Paradise track last year – when partnered with Nissan’s Todd Kelly – in a race that was won by van Gisbergen.
MATT CAMPBELL