24h Le Mans
In recent years, Australian driver Matt Campbell has often won praise from Porsche and his teammates in the highly competitive LMGTE Am class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This year, he is expected to join forces with beloved German-born Irish actor Michael Fassbender.
Australian driver Matt Campbell (age 27) is gearing up for his fifth participation in the 24 Hours, at the wheel of Proton Competition's #93 Porsche 911 RSR-19 in LMGTE Am. He is teamming up with German-born Irish actor Michael Fassbender and Canadian driver Zacharie Robichon. Matt Campbell: "As this is my fifth 24 Hours of Le Mans in a row and both Michael and Zac’s first, my primary role will be to help them as much as possible, especially Michael throughout the weekend, from my past experience. Ultimately, every driver's goal or dream is to finish on the podium at Le Mans, but our primary goal is to finish the 24 hours."
Campbell is no stranger to the joys of the podium. In 2018, for his rookie participation, he won the LMGTE Am class along with Christian Ried and Julien Andlauer representing Dempsey-Proton Racing. Team owner Patrick Dempsey joined them on the podium. "Over race weekend, Patrick is very involved in the team, with team meetings and driver feedback, which is very cool for someone in his position. Having also raced at the 24 Hours of Le Mans previously, he knows what is involved from both a driver and team owner perspective." Campbell finished second in LMGTE Am in 2020 and made it into the top 5 in 2019 and 2021. Having him as a teammate at the 24 Hours is definitely a good omen!
A true endurance racing and Porsche fan, Campbell recently had the opportunity to drive the 956 winner at the 1982 24 Hours of Le Mans thanks to Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell. "The 956 has always been the car that I dreamed of driving someday, and to then be given the opportunity by Porsche was very unexpected, I couldn’t keep the smile off my face."
The German marque is currently preparing its return to the top class in endurance racing, Hypercar. As a result of his status as factory driver, could Campbell compete in the class next season? "It is great to see Porsche going back to the top level of endurance racing with the LMDH class. It was always been a dream to compete at the top level with Porsche, but I will have to see if such an opportunity presents itself."
