Oliver Gavin
British racing driver
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Oliver Benjamin Gavin (born 29 September 1972)[1] is a British former 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, six 12 Hours of Sebring class wins and five Petit Le Mans class wins.
British
FIA Platinum (until 2022)
FIA Gold (2023–)| Oliver Gavin | |
|---|---|
Gavin in 2009 | |
| Nationality | British |
| Born | 29 September 1972 Huntingdon, England |
| Racing licence | FIA Platinum (until 2022) FIA Gold (2023–) |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans career | |
| Years | 2001 – 2019 |
| Teams | Saleen-Allen Speedlab, Corvette Racing |
| Best finish | 4th overall (2006) |
| Class wins | 5 (2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2015) |
Biography
Gavin 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.
Gavin 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.
Gavin 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 announced his retirement from professional racing on 31 October 2020,[4] with the 2021 WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps being his final race. He placed fourth in the GTE Pro class with co-driver, Antonio Garcia, and 18th overall.[5]
Gavin lives in a village east of Northampton with his wife, Helen, and their three children.[1] He announced on April 29, 2021, via Twitter[6] that he will be continuing his working relationship with Chevrolet with the formation of a new racing school, the Oliver Gavin Driving Academy, featuring Corvette C8 Stingrays as the primary instructional vehicle.[7]
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.
American Le Mans Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)
† Did not finish the race but was classified as his car completed more than 70% of the overall winner's race distance.
24 Hours of Le Mans results
Complete GT1 World Championship results
Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Bathurst 1000 results
| Year | Team | Car | Co-driver | Position | Laps | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | James Rosenberg Racing | Holden Commodore VF |  Nick Percat |
3rd | 161 | [35] |
| 2015 | Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport | Holden Commodore VF | Nick Percat |
19th | 159 | [36] |