The Aussie starred in a tense qualifying session for the Qatar 1812km, which opens the 2024 WEC today local time.
Campbell edged ex-F1 driver Nick de Vries, now Toyota WEC driver, in the Hyperpole session to grab pole for Porsche ahead of the 10-hour race.
“The first pole position for the Porsche 963 in the FIA WEC hypercar class – a perfect start and extremely important for the first race of the season,” said Campbell.
“It’s important to be ahead of everyone else and have as much of a free run as possible.
“Strategy will play a significant role in the 10-hour race in Qatar. I’m really thrilled about my first pole in the world championship!”
Bathurst 1000 starter Kevin Estre was fifth fastest in the second factory Porsche.
“It took long for the tyres to reach the optimum temperature,” he said.
“The first heat was okay, although I made a mistake on what could have been my fastest lap. The lap after that was a little slower but still good enough to get into the top 10.
“The Hyperpole session was about not making any mistakes and pulling everything together on one lap. Our car’s balance wasn’t ideal and Matt was actually faster than me today.
“Porsche is on pole – and that’s great! We start from fifth place. That’s okay too.”
In the LMGT3 class, Aussie Yasser Shahin qualified 13th in his Manthey Porsche.
“That was a difficult first qualifying for us,” he said.
“We’re obviously disappointed that we missed out on reaching the top 10. We’ll be stronger in the race tomorrow! The race is over 10 long hours and anything can happen.”
The Qatar 1812km kicks off at 7pm AEDT tonight.
Discussion about this post