MOTORSPORT: Porsche snaps up young Queenslander

Mark Webber may have retired after helping Porsche win the World Endurance Championship, but a young Queenslander could be the next Australian to win big with the famed German sports car brand.

Rising Aussie star Matt Campbell, a 21-year-old from Warwick, has scored a seat in the 2017 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup after emerging victorious in the Porsche Motorsport Junior Programme Shootout.

Although it's not a fully-paid drive, Campbell will receive a lucrative scholarship worth 200,000 Euros to fund his campaign in Porsche's premier international one-make series.

The Porsche Supercup is a support category to Formula 1 held across Europe and the US -- including events at iconic circuits such as Barcelona, Monaco, Hockenheim, Spa-Francorchamps, Monza and the Circuit of the Americas.

In addition, as part of his inclusion in the Porsche Motorsport Junior Programme, Campbell will receive training in communications, fitness and mental preparation, plus mentorship from the program's permanent driver coach and former Porsche champion, Sascha Maassen.

The promising youngster was selected from nine young drivers in international Carrera Cup and GT3 Cup Challenge series around the world after a rigorous two-day evaluation at Lausitzring in Germany over September 26-27.

“This is an incredible opportunity for me and an honour to become a Porsche Junior driver in 2017,” said Campbell.

“The Shootout was an incredible experience with some very talented drivers from around the world, so to be selected by Porsche as the scholarship recipient is huge honour.

“It’s pretty amazing to think that I’ll be lining up on the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup grid in 2017. It’s a hugely competitive series, which races on some of the world’s best circuits at some of Formula 1's biggest events.

"I’m looking forward to the challenge of learning new circuits and racing the new 2017 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car."

Campbell's transition to Porsche Supercup follows three seasons in Porsche one-make racing in Australia, where he mixed it with Class A runners in 2011-spec GT3 Cup cars on his debut in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge feeder series in 2014 – despite driving a 2005-spec Class B 911 GT3.

After that he contested the 2015 Porsche Carrera Cup, in which he scored six race wins and 10 top-two placings to finish third for the season.

Campbell then clinched the 2016 Carrera Cup title in his second attempt with two races remaining, after winning 13 of the season’s 23 races and scoring seven out of a possible eight pole positions.

At age 16, Campbell was named Queensland Super Sprints State Champion and finished second in the Queensland Formula Ford Championship, before winning the latter the following year.

Just five years later he was recruited by Nissan Motorsport to co-drive in three Supercars touring car endurance event at Sandown, Bathurst and Gold Coast.

“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed racing Porsches for the last three seasons, firstly in GT3 Cup Challenge and then in Carrera Cup, and it’s amazing that I can continue racing with the brand in 2017 in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup," said Campbell.

"It’s great that Porsche provides such a strong pathway for young drivers in Australia to advance their careers, such as I did, both locally and abroad."

The young Aussie is one of two drivers to be confirmed for the Porsche Motorsport Junior Programme, with 18-year-old Austrian Thomas Preining set to race in the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland, which supports the DTM.

Preining, who will be given 150,000 Euros towards his campaign. was selected ahead of over 100 applicants for the entry-level Porsche Junior position following a strong maiden season in single-seaters, placing fourth in the 2016 ADAC Formula 4 Championship.

"Matt is a phenomenal talent and we are thrilled, but not surprised, that he won the Porsche Motorsport Junior Programme Shootout," said Porsche Cars Australia Director of Public Relations and Motorsport, Paul Ellis.

"He has been a stand-out performer in both our GT3 Cup Challenge and Carrera Cup championships over the past three years and we wish him all the best as he begins this new challenge in 2017."

Ellis said Campbell was the latest example of yound drivers progressing through the Porsche motorsport 'pyramid', with former Carrera Cup racers including David Reynolds, Fabian Coulthard, James Moffat, Nick Percat, Jonathon Webb and Andre Heimgartner.