One of Australia's most influential motorsport engineers, Campbell Little, has passed away after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
Little's family confirmed the news on Wednesday, after a three-and-a-half year battle with the disease. He was 65.
His early fascination was not with cars but with motorcycles, racing on road and off around his hometown of Lismore, New South Wales. In 1979, American speedway riders Bruce Penhall and Bobby Schwartz needed mechanical work on their bikes and when Little stepped in to help, he found he was stepping into his new career, and soon found himself in the UK.
After a stint with Honda Great Britain, he returned to Australia, where the two-wheeled racing scene was in something of a lull. In the mid-1980s some of his team's requirements led him to the Melbourne dyno of Frank Lowndes, who had worked with Peter Brock. Lowndes recommended him to Frank Gardner and soon, Little was working with Gardner's BMW Australia-backed Group A team.
By 1988 Gardner's team had switched to a Ford Sierra and won the Bathurst 1000, the first of five such victories Little enjoyed. From there, he moved to Toyota's two-litre racing squad but by the mid-1990s, two New Zealand brothers, Ross and Jimmy Stone, had invited him to join their nascent 5-litre Touring Car (soon to be V8 Supercars) team.
Such was the impact that the trio had that Jason Bright and Steven Richards won the 1998 Bathurst 1000. But soon after Little was on the move again, this time to the UK and BTCC squad Triple Eight – which was about to embark on a V8 Supercar assault.
Little was key to the new team recruiting Frank Lowndes's son Craig in 2005 and two more Bathurst 1000 wins followed, with Jamie Whincup alongside Lowndes. In 2009, Little joined V8 Supercars as its category technical director, but after less than a season in that role he was on the move again to Ford Performance Racing.
In late 2013 he joined Dick Johnson Racing, which was about to join forces with Team Penske, before rejoining what was now called Supercars to work on the development of the new Gen3 project.
Earlier this year Little joined Supercars' media team, to advise on technical matters for its broadcasts, between treatments for his ongoing illness.
Many tributes have flowed for the hugely respected Little. Craig Lowndes said on social media: “Incredible what he helped create both at Triple Eight Racing Engineering and Supercars, but he was a very dear friend that I was blessed to have in my corner.”
John Cleland said on X, formerly Twitter: “Very sad, he was a lovely man I first met on one of my many Bathurst trips and had the pleasure to work with him… top bloke. RIP mate.”
Little is survived by his wife Clare and daughter Jess, Georgia and Ellyse, and many friends through the sport. To all, Autosport extends its sincere condolences.
