Oliver Gavin
Oliver Benjamin Gavin (born 29 September 1972),[1] is a British racing driver who joined Corvette Racing in 2002. He has won five American Le Mans Series class championships, five 24 Hours of Le Mans class wins, five 12 Hours of Sebring class wins and five Petit Le Mans class wins.
 Gavin in 2009 | |
| Nationality | British |
|---|---|
| Born | September 29, 1972 Huntingdon, England |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans career | |
| Years | 2001 – |
| Teams | Saleen-Allen Speedlab, Corvette Racing |
| Best finish | 4th overall (2006) |
| Class wins | 5 (2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2015) |
Biography
He was raised in the village of Felmersham, Bedfordshire. He attended the local Primary school, Pinchmill. At age nine he attended Lincroft Middle School and then took his GCSEs and A-levels at Sharnbrook Upper School and Community College.
Born in Huntingdon, Gavin was introduced to motor racing through the traditional karting route. After finishing as runner-up in the 1993 British F3 series to Kelvin Burt, Gavin graduated to Formula 3000 in 1994 with Omegaland. He failed to score any points in the five races he contested, and subsequently opted to drop back down to F3 for 1995. He managed to overcome rival Ralph Firman in the final round to snatch the title.
He was test driver for the ill-fated mid-1990s Pacific Grand Prix team. It was proposed that he would drive for the team in the 1995 Australian Grand Prix, but he was not granted the required FIA Super Licence.[2] Gavin also drove the Safety Car from 1997 to 1999 for the Formula One championship.[2]
Gavin became a Corvette Racing factory driver in 2002, having raced full-time in the American Le Mans Series GT1 and GT2 classes and currently the IMSA SportsCar Championship GTLM class. His full-time codrivers have been Olivier Beretta (2004-2010), Jan Magnussen (2010-2011) and Tommy Milner (since 2012), whereas Max Papis, Richard Westbrook and Jordan Taylor have been his endurance codrivers.
He has won his class in Le Mans on five occasions (2002, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2015),[3] the 12 Hours of Sebring five times (2001, 2002, 2006, 2007 and 2013), and Petit Le Mans another five times (2002, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2010). Also, he won the ALMS GT1 titles in 2005, 2006 and 2007, plus the GT2 title in 2012.
Gavin lives in a village east of Northampton with his wife, Helen, and their three children.[1]
Racing record
Complete International Formula 3000 results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Omegaland | Lola T94/50 | Zytek-Judd | SIL 10 |
PAU DNQ |
CAT Ret |
PER Ret |
NC | 0 | ||||||
| Nordic Racing | Ford Cosworth | HOC DNS |
SPA | EST | MAG | ||||||||||
| 1997 | BSE Salisbury Engineering | Lola T96/50 | Zytek-Judd | SIL DNQ |
PAU DNQ |
HEL DNQ |
NÜR | PER | HOC | A1R | SPA | MUG | JER | NC | 0 |
| 1999 | European Edenbridge Racing | Lola T99/50 | Zytek | IMO 12 |
MON 4 |
CAT DNQ |
MAG DNQ |
SIL 14 |
A1R DNQ |
HOC DNQ |
HUN DNQ |
SPA 9 |
NÜR 8 |
16th | 3 |
Complete International Touring Car Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Joest Racing Opel | Opel Calibra V6 4x4 | HOC 1 Ret |
HOC 2 DNS |
NÜR 1 14 |
NÜR 2 Ret |
EST 1 6 |
EST 2 6 |
HEL 1 10† |
HEL 2 Ret |
NOR 1 10 |
NOR 2 12 |
DIE 1 17 |
DIE 2 9 |
SIL 1 11 |
SIL 2 Ret |
NÜR 1 16 |
NÜR 2 Ret |
MAG 1 12 |
MAG 2 15 |
MUG 1 17 |
MUG 2 Ret |
HOC 1 |
HOC 2 |
INT 1 11 |
INT 2 15 |
SUZ 1 16 |
SUZ 2 11 |
23rd | 16 |
- † — Retired, but was classified as he completed 90% of the winner's race distance.
24 Hours of Le Mans results
.svg.png){kind=small}
Complete GT1 World Championship results
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Mad-Croc Racing | Chevrolet Corvette C6.R | ABU QR |
ABU CR |
SIL QR 13 |
SIL CR 14 |
BRN QR |
BRN CR |
PRI QR 19 |
PRI CR 19 |
SPA QR 18 |
SPA CR 17 |
NÜR QR |
NÜR CR |
ALG QR |
ALG CR |
NAV QR |
NAV CR |
INT QR |
INT CR |
SAN QR |
SAN CR |
53rd | 0 |
Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Class | Make | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Pos. | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Corvette Racing | GTLM | Chevrolet Corvette C7.R | Chevrolet 5.5 V8 | DAY 5 |
SEB 6 |
LBH 3 |
LGA 5 |
WGL 4 |
MOS 6 |
IMS 5 |
ELK 7 |
VIR 9 |
COA 10 |
PET 4 |
10th | 291 |
| 2015 | Corvette Racing | GTLM | Chevrolet Corvette C7.R | Chevrolet 5.5 V8 | DAY 3 |
SEB 9 |
LBH 7 |
LGA 6 |
WGL 7 |
MOS 5 |
ELK 7 |
VIR 8 |
COA 8 |
PET 3 |
8th | 261 | |
| 2016 | Corvette Racing | GTLM | Chevrolet Corvette C7.R | Chevrolet 5.5 V8 | DAY 1 |
SEB 1 |
LBH 2 |
LGA 7 |
WGL 4 |
MOS 2 |
LIM 1 |
ELK 1 |
VIR 9 |
COA 5 |
PET 3 |
1st | 345 |
| 2017 | Corvette Racing | GTLM | Chevrolet Corvette C7.R | Chevrolet LT5.5 5.5 V8 | DAY 9 |
SEB 10 |
LBH 1 |
COA 7 |
WGL 5 |
MOS 8 |
LIM 8 |
ELK 5 |
VIR 6 |
LGA 9 |
PET 4 |
8th | 276 |
| 2018 | Corvette Racing | GTLM | Chevrolet Corvette C7.R | Chevrolet LT5.5 5.5 V8 | DAY 4 |
SEB 6 |
LBH 1 |
MOH 8 |
WGL 5 |
MOS 3 |
LIM 4 |
ELK 2 |
VIR 6 |
LGA 5 |
PET 2 |
3rd | 310 |
| 2019 | Corvette Racing | GTLM | Chevrolet Corvette C7.R | Chevrolet LT5.5 5.5 V8 | DAY 8 |
SEB 8 |
LBH 3 |
MDO 8 |
WGL 8 |
MOS 8 |
LIM 6 |
ELK 6 |
VIR 4 |
LGA 4 |
PET 7 |
8th | 275 |
| 2020 | Corvette Racing | GTLM | Chevrolet Corvette C8.R | Chevrolet 5.5 L V8 | DAY 7 |
DAY 5 |
SEB 1 |
ELK 2 |
VIR |
ATL |
MDO |
CLT |
PET |
LGA |
SEB |
3rd* | 117* |
* Season still in progress.
Bathurst 1000 results
| Year | Team | Car | Co-driver | Position | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | James Rosenberg Racing | Holden Commodore VF | .svg.png){kind=small} |
3rd | 161 |
| 2015 | Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport | Holden Commodore VF | |
19th | 159 |
References
- "Corvette Racing Driver Profile: Oliver Gavin". Archived from the original on 17 May 2010.
- Taylor, Simon (February 2013). "Lunch with... Oliver Gavin". Motor Sport magazine. p. 94. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
- "FIA GT Championship Driver Biography: Oliver Gavin". Archived from the original on 17 May 2010.
External links
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Jan Magnussen |
British Formula Three Champion 1995 |
Succeeded by Ralph Firman |
| Preceded by Unknown |
F1 Safety Car Driver 1997–1999 |
Succeeded by Bernd Mayländer |
| Preceded by Patrick Pilet |
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTLM Champion 2016 With: Tommy Milner |
Succeeded by Antonio García Jan Magnussen |
| Preceded by Antonio García Jan Magnussen |
North American Endurance Cup GTLM Champion 2016 With: Tommy Milner |
Succeeded by Patrick Pilet Dirk Werner |
| Awards | ||
| Preceded by Gareth Rees |
McLaren Autosport BRDC Award 1991 |
Succeeded by Dario Franchitti |
| Preceded by Kelvin Burt |
Autosport British Club Driver of the Year 1992 |
Succeeded by Dario Franchitti |