Sweet podium for perseverant Campbell
Matt Campbell has secured a class podium at the 24 Hour of Le Mans, one of the world’s most prestigious races
 
Racing alongside German Christian Ried and Riccardo Pera from Italy in the Dempsey-Proton Racing prepared Porsche 911 RSR, Campbell was instrumental in securing the entry’s well deserved GTE-Am class runner-up honours behind Jonathan Adam, Charlie Eastwood, Salih Yoluc in the TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage AMR.
 
It ended up being an extremely tight finish in the class with the result going all the way down to the final 24 minutes after the final safety car period finished, with Campbell behind the wheel for the battle between three cars.
 
The Queenslander kept his cool during the fight as he eventually crossed the line just three seconds ahead of Nicklas Nielsen in the AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE, while fellow Porsche works driver Matteo Cairoli fell short of the podium by nine seconds.
 
“Second place is a dream result for us, because given the pace of the winners, we couldn’t do better,” Campbell said post-race. 
 
“The drivers and our team did a great job. We can all be very proud. The final sprint after the last safety car phase was great fun. I just went all-out. We’ll celebrate second place as if it were a win.”
 
Taking out the outright event win and the LMP1 class was Toyota Gazoo Racing’s No 8 Toyota TS050, driven by Sébastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima and Brendon Hartley.


Welcome return to racing for Mawson
Also taking place as part of the famous event was the joint German and French Porsche Carrera Cup race, where New South Welshman Joey Mawson enjoyed is first race start in more than sixth months.
 
With wet and windy conditions greeting the 53 competitors for the 45-minute time certain support race on Saturday, it was always going to be a battle of survival for Mawson who qualified in P23.
 
Starting under the safety car, it didn’t take him long to make up ground with Mawson moving to 19th within the first lap, where he stayed for a big chunk of the race
 
Despite a slight hiccup, Mawson lost no confidence after sliding off track as he slowly worked his way back into the top 20, before many cars in front of him started to fall victim of the slippery circuit.
 
A number of safety car periods helped Mawson up to 17th ahead of the final lap before a dramatic lap and a number of incidents saw him cross the finish line in 14th before he was eventually promoted to 13th post-race.
 
Mawson will remain in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany for the remainder of the season, with the series’ next race to be at the ADAC GT Masters in Sachsenring on 2-4 October.


Bullish Horsten remains strong in F3
West Australian Bart Horsten has stayed within the top 10 of the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship standings after a solid weekend behind the wheel at Donington Park.
 
With three races taking place over the weekend, Horsten started strong and earned himself a third row start after qualifying in P5 and almost secured himself a second podium in as many rounds.
 
However the 18-year-old fell just short but still managed to secure a good haul of points thanks to his fourth place finish.
 
In Sunday’s reverse grid race, Horsten was unable to make up any places during the race and crossed the chequered flag where he started in 13th before some damage control in the final outing of the round saw him finish in P7.
 
Horsten and the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship return in a fortnight with the fifth round of the 2020 season to take place at Snetterton Circuit on 2-4 October.

Rookie Cup lead still handy for Mansell
Christian Mansell has continued his strong rookie season in the British F4 Championship with another strong performance behind the wheel.
 
Three outright top 10 finishes were enough for Mansell to hold onto his lead in the Rookie Cup, despite facing pressure from local talent and current rookie runner-up Frederick Lubin, who took out two class wins from the weekend.
 
In the round’s opening race, Mansell finished in 10th place and two places behind Lubin, before both drivers moved up some places in the second race, where Mansell again finished behind the young Brit.
 
However, the Aussie teenager finally got the better of his rival in the final race and finished one place higher in seventh, allowing him to end the round with a 32 point lead at the top of the Rookie Cup and in eighth place on the outright standings.
 
It’s back-to-back race meetings for the British F4 Championship with the Championship heading to Silverstone this weekend.