Aussie Matt Campbell wins second Bathurst 12-hour race

Fans take in some of the early action during the Bathurst 12-hour race at Mount Panorama.

Australian endurance star Matt Campbell has won his second Bathurst 12-hour race at a wet and wild Mount Panorama.

Just weeks after winning the famous 24 Hours of Daytona for the first time, Campbell saluted with Porsche co-drivers Laurens Vanthoor and Ayhancan Guven after 275 completed laps on Sunday.

The 29-year-old’s victory comes five years after he won at Mount Panorama with Dirk Werner and Dennis Olsen.

It was the first Bathurst win for Vanthoor and Guven.

Campbell labelled the win “phenomenal”, in the process stamping himself as an endurance great.

“It was awesome,” the Queenslander said.

“Second win here. A tough day, the weather, everything like that.

“Hats off to everyone at EMA Manthey Racing, we’re always running out the front and it wasn’t easy with those conditions.

“The team was keeping me up to date, and we got there in the end.”

Andorran-based French driver Jules Gounon came in second with Mercedes co-drivers Luca Stolz (Germany) and Kenny Habul (Australia).

Gounon was chasing an unprecedented fourth straight Bathurst 12-hour title, while Stolz and Habul had been part of the previous two wins at the famous circuit in regional NSW.

The Audi team of Liam Talbot, Kelvin van der Linde and Christopher Haase rounded out the podium by finishing third.

Legendary MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi looked a shot of finishing on the podium, but eventually finished fifth with his BMW teammates Maxime Martin and Raffaele Marciello.

Relatively unknown in Australia, Campbell has carved out on extraordinary career overseas and continues to perform in the biggest races.

To go with his wins at Bathurst and Daytona, Campbell tasted victory at the iconic 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2018, and also won the endurance event in Dubai in the same year.