Matt Campbell has had a dream start to his busy 2024 calendar of motorsport, winning the prestigious Rolex 24 at Daytona.
 
The Queenslander was behind the wheel of the Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 alongside Felipe Nasr, Josef Newgarden and Dane Cameron, and played a pivotal role in delivering Penske’s first Daytona 24 Hour victory in more than 50 years.
 
After showing good pace in the four practice sessions, the #7 Porsche 963 secured a second row start after falling just short of the pair of Cadillac V-Series.R prototype cars occupying the top two spots.
 
Although it was Nasr who started and finished the race, Campbell was the one who was most instrumental in pushing the team forward and getting the car in a winning position.
 
When the race began, the quartet stayed within the top three for much of the opening stint but got its first glimpse of the lead in the sixth hour after a power move from Campbell on turn one of lap 161.
 
Leading for the next 60 laps, the #7 Porsche 963 fell back behind the #31 Action Express Racing Cadillac of Pipo Derani, Jack Aitken and Tom Blomqvist, who would remain their main rivals for the rest of the race.
 
Nasr helped regain the outright lead around the 10-hour mark where they would only stay in front for the next 30 laps, before another brilliant move from Campbell saw the #7 take the lead once again – this time for a solid five-hour period.

Blomqvist ended up wrestling back the lead from Nasr on lap 749 and was on track to reach the chequered flag in top spot, only for Nasr to snatch first place one last time thanks to smart strategy on lap 768 during a yellow flag.
 
When the race restarted with 30 minutes to go, Nasr successfully defended several challenges from the #31 Cadillac who had begun the race from pole position, to hold for the win.
 
Not only did the win help Penske get his first victory in the endurance race since 1969, but it also saw Porsche record a victory there for the first time in almost 15 years.
 
“It’s incredible the way this race ebbs and flows and the way we took it to the Cadillacs today,” Campbell told NBC after the win.
 
“Hats off to them. They really gave it to us. To finally get our first big victory in the world is phenomenal. What a team. We finally got it done.”

View full results here.

There were plenty of other Aussies racing in Daytona, with Josh Burdon the next best after he and Riley teammates Felipe Massa, Felipe Fraga and Gar Robinson secured a LMP2 class podium and 11th overall.
 
James Allen finished seventh in the LMP2 class and 15th overall with his three teammates in the DragonSpeed LMP2 Oreca 07, while Matthew Brabham placed one position below with AO Racing.
 
In GTD, Scott Andrews ended up 27th overall and eighth in class sharing the Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo with three others.
 
The only Australian unable to finish was Kenny Habul, whose SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo suffered mechanical issues on lap 193, forcing the team to retire.
 
On the other side of the globe, there was another day-long endurance race taking place, where a number of Australians featured in the Hankook 24H Dubai.
 
Sadly, it was a highly challenging event for Australian drivers with almost all entries being unable to finish – the best result belonging to Mark Griffth in the CWS Engineering Ginetta G55, who finished 29th overall and second in the TCE class.
 
Both Darren Currie and Axle Donaldson also finished the race in their five-driver Holmgaard Motorsport Porsche 992 GT3 Cup, and finished 37th overall.

Unfortunately all other Aussie drivers including Brenton and Stephen Grove, Jordan Love, Cameron McLeod, George Nakas, Fraser Ross, John Corbett and Rianna O’Meara-Hunt failed to finish with their respective teams.
 
View the full Dubai 24 Hour results here.