Campbell at the crossroads: A Porsche lifer takes stock and looks to what’s next

The first time Matt Campbell raced in a Porsche 911, he was a relatively unknown 19-year-old rookie in Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Australia, but he would go on to win that season’s B class championship. Year after year, he’d turn more and more heads in his home country as he finished third in the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia on his debut, then went on to win that championship the following year in 2016, finally catching the eye of the manufacturer itself.

The young champion became a Porsche Junior driver in 2017, a Young Professional Driver in 2018, and by 2019, he joined the ranks of Porsche’s elite works drivers. With Porsche, Campbell became a two-time IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar champion, a class winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans on his debut, an overall winner of the Rolex 24 At Daytona, and twice a winner of the Bathurst 12 Hour race.

This weekend, this incredible run comes to an end as Campbell prepares to make his final start as a Porsche works driver, and his final start in the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 with co-drivers Kévin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor.

Campbell told RACER that the build-up to his final race for Porsche “felt like any other race, to be honest. I mean, it’s been quite a number of months since I’ve last been at an IMSA race at Sebring.

“It just felt like a normal race weekend coming into it, but I’m sure that after the weekend, being my last-ever event (with Porsche), it’ll finally sink in. I’m just looking forward to the last one, and hopefully we can end it on a high.”

Campbell says his time with Porsche Penske Motorsport, representing the marque in the top classes of the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA, was the highlight of his time with Porsche – the culmination of what he set out to accomplish from the moment he first officially joined the fold

“We’ve been able to tick every box along the way that we set out to try and achieve,” Campbell said. “That’s transitioning from a Junior role, Young Professional, Factory driver, and then finally reaching the pinnacle with Porsche and racing in a factory program full-time in prototypes.

“That was always the goal when I first joined Porsche. Obviously, at the time, they still had an existing LMP1 program. Being in this role for a number of years has been very, very special – especially when you think of the partnership we have with Penske as well. So, it’s been an incredible journey.”

"CamJam" did a lot of celebrating en route to the GTP crown in 2025. Michael Levitt/Lumen via Getty Images

And many happy memories of racing with drivers like Mathieu Jaminet, forming a partnership affectionately known as “CamJam” that won the 2022 GTD Pro and 2025 GTP titles in IMSA. Jaminet has already moved on to new pastures with Genesis Magma Racing, while Campbell will depart for Ford Racing and proceed full-speed ahead into testing and developing its 2027 prototype.

The final chapter of Campbell’s story with Porsche is a strange one; he was relegated to a part-time role in the wake of Porsche’s WEC Hypercar withdrawal and the necessary consolidation to go all-in on IMSA. Outside of a handful of Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie races, a reserve role for Manthey at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, and a Spa 24 Hours drive, there’s not been much racing this year for one of Porsche’s most prolific stars of the last decade.

But he leaves with good feelings despite the reduced role in his final year, and is grateful that Porsche gave its blessing for Campbell to test for Ford.

“I’ve been fortunate that Porsche have been able to let me do both things. We’re all ending on good terms, which is the most important thing,” he said. “They’ve given me the opportunity to be in this position in my professional career, and this platform.

“Although it hasn’t been so much racing, I’ve also done less racing in the past as well – so it hasn’t worked out too bad, to be honest. And I’m going to be in a race car a lot, especially from now on.”

Still the reigning IMSA GTP champion for another few days, Campbell is determined to give his all and end this great run with victory at the 29th Motul Petit Le Mans, and he especially likes his chances if the expected rainfall does indeed affect Saturday’s race at Road Atlanta.

“There haven’t been many wet races in either the WEC or IMSA calendars in the past year, but when there has been rain, we were always extremely strong,” Campbell recalls. “At Le Mans in ’24, and also last year at COTA.

“If it is like that, I’m hoping for a little bit of weather. I know we’re going to be strong at this track, especially in terms of strategy and finishing the race.

“It would be extra special, especially if it’s the last race where all three of us will be together. And especially at this race; I think we’ve all won it in different categories or been on the podium, but never got this one overall. So we all want to try and tick it off the list.”

It’d be the perfect way for the once-unknown Matt Campbell to end this chapter of his life, now as an internationally renowned champion and one of sports car racing’s greatest talents of this generation.