Greg Campbell lives and breathes motor sport. During the week you can find him managing GRC Motorsport, a motor sport preparation workshop in Dural, New South Wales, specialising in rally and off road. On weekends you’re likely to find him competing in his #651 Can Am Maverick X3, built in-house of course.
Contesting the highly-competitive Superlite B category in 2017, Campbell had his sights set on the BFGoodrich CAMS Australian Off Road Championship and the NSW Championship class double.
Extremely dusty conditions greeted Campbell and the strong Superlite B field at the St George 399 in May, round one of the BFGoodrich CAMS AORC.
Campbell, with Alex Powe in the navigator’s seat, brought the #651 Can-Am home fourth in class, making a steady start to his AORC campaign.
Attention turned to the biggest event of the year, the Tatts Finke Desert Race. Competition in the Superlite B class was fierce, the largest car class at the event with over 30 entries.
This time, Campbell had navigator wife Allison by his side for the 452-kilometre trip to Finke and back.
The husband-and-wife pair had a superb run over the gruelling terrain, finishing third in class behind Nathan Chivers and Jeff McNiven, making the Superlite B podium an all Can-Am affair.
With Campbell only 26 points adrift of Chivers heading to the third and final round at the Rainbow Desert Enduro, the Superlite B class championship was shaping up for a close finish.
No one could have predicted how hard the final race of the AORC would be. On a new course that offered plenty of challenges in its own right, heavy rain made for extremely muddy conditions and a race of attrition.
Campbell and navigator Joshua Bennett completed a gruelling seven laps of the 75km loop, crossing the finish line in just under seven hours to claim second in class and eighth outright. The hard-earned result gave them enough points to wrap up the Superlite B class championship.
“We had a great weekend at the Rainbow Desert Enduro, fantastic event…,” Campbell posted on Facebook.
“The Can-Am X3 was awesome fun in mud!”
Navigators Alex Powe, Allison Campbell and Joshua Bennett jointly take out the Superlite B Class Navigator Championship.
In the NSW State Championship, Campbell had made a perfect start to his campaign at Milbrodale, winning the Superlite B class. He followed this up with another class win at the Kempsey 250 and a second in class at the Warialda 200 in September.
Third in class at the final round at Nabiac secured the NSW Superlite B Class Championship for Campbell, completing his defence of the 2016 class title and giving him the Australian and NSW Superlite B class double.
Congratulations to Greg Campbell on a successful 2017; we look forward to more exciting off road competition in the Superlite B class in 2018.
