Few drivers in Australian motorsport in the modern day come from more humble backgrounds than Matt Campbell.
Born in Warwick, Queensland in 1995, Campbell began racing at age 14 in a Datsun 1200, banking lots of seat time around the Morgan Park circuit – the track that his grandfather designed and built himself.
It wasn’t long before moving into the Queensland Formula Ford Series in 2011. In his first season racing in state level Formula Ford racing, Campbell would finish second before winning the title the year after.
Even with a relatively short amount of racing experience, Campbell’s performance in Formula Ford caught the eye of renowned Porsche talent finder Andy McElrea, who would sign Campbell for the
2014 Porsche Sprint Challenge Championship where he would dominate the Class B championship (for older generation cars). A move up to Carrera Cup Australia was highlighted by a third place
championship finish in 2015, followed by the overall championship success in 2016.
Campbell’s speed in Porsche equipment caught the eye of European teams, as the Queenslander would move to Porsche Supercup and Carrera Cup Germany for 2017, highlighted by a third place championship finish in Supercup.
What followed was a brilliant time in Campbell’s career – scoring a role as an official Porsche factory driver and being the poster boy of Porsche’s global racing pyramid. He claimed class victories at Le Mans and Daytona, as well as victories at the Bathurst 12 Hour in 2019 and 2024 and overall victory in the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2024.
In 2025, Campbell competes full-time in the IMSA Sportscar Championship for Porsche Penske Motorsport.
Alongside Campbell’s global ventures, he has raced in the Bathurst 1000 four times between 2016 and 2022, with a best finish of fifth in 2017, co-driving with Shane van Gisbergen at Triple Eight Race Engineering. SVG and Campbell combined for fifth at Bathurst, followed by fourth and third at Surfers Paradise, with that third place remaining Campbell’s best finish in the Repco Supercars Championship to date.
What’s next for Campbell? Only time will tell, but it would have been difficult for that young 14 year old, skidding around his grandfather’s race track, to see how bright the future was going to be.