JUST a day after announcing that co-driver Earl Bamber has been ruled out of the Repco Bathurst 1000, Kelly Grove Racing has revealed a high-profile replacement for the Kiwi.
Fellow international GT ace Matt Campbell will step into the co-driver role alongside Andre Heimgartner in the team’s #7 NED Whisky Mustang.
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It will mark a return to the Bathurst 1000 for the first time in four years for the Europe-based Australian, who races in a number of marquee GT series as a Porsche factory driver.
Campbell made his Supercars debut in the 2016 Enduro Cup alongside Todd Kelly in Kelly Racing’s #7 Nissan Altima and was then snapped up by Triple Eight to partner Shane van Gisbergen the following year.
Although absent from subsequent Bathurst 1000s, he’s clocked up plenty of laps around Mount Panorama, winning the 2019 Bathurst 12 Hour driving an Earl Bamber Motorsport-run Porsche.
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Bamber had been set to make a Bathurst 1000 return of his own after three years away but has been scratched due to commitments in the United States.
“Once it was confirmed Earl couldn’t make the event due to the conflict in his racing schedule, it was vital that we found somebody of a very high calibre to replace Earl, and we know we have that in Matt Campbell,” said team boss Stephen Grove.
“We’re all very excited to have him come back and race with us at the Bathurst 1000”.
KGR’s other Mustang will reunite 2017’s Bathurst 1000-winning pairing of David Reynolds and Luke Youlden; the latter returning to the Great Race after a one-year absence.
The 2021 Repco Bathurst 1000 is scheduled to take place on December 5, capping a six-day event that will also feature Australian Racing Group categories including TCR Australia.
