-
Home
- TV Shows
- TV Schedule
- NASCAR
-
Formula 1
- Auto Racing
- Moto Racing
- Cars
- Bikes
- Store
- Social
- Games
- Mobile
- Deals
- Videos
- Photos
- Home
- TV Shows
-
TV Schedule
-
SPEED Showcase
-
- NASCAR
- Formula 1
- Auto Racing
- Moto Racing
- Cars
- Bikes
- Store
- Social
- Mobile
- Deals
- Videos
- Photos
GRAND-AM
IN THE COCKPIT: Oliver Gavin, Rolex 24
This year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona was definitely a great race for many, but it wasn’t quite the finish we were anticipating in the Spirit of Daytona No.90 Corvette DP....
Oliver Gavin and Spirit of Daytona Racing soldiered home for a top-five finish in the Rolex 24. (Photo: John Dagys)
This year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona was definitely a great race for many, particularly fans who had tooth-and-nail battles to watch in both DP and GT right up to the checker, but it wasn’t quite the finish we were anticipating in the Spirit of Daytona No.90 Corvette DP.
With the benefit of hindsight and a good night’s sleep, I’d have to say that fifth was a good result for us especially as the car was suffering from a broken exhaust and was actually parked in the pit lane towards the end. If that was Le Mans we wouldn’t have been classified, as you have to be running for it to count. It was all the more frustrating because we’d been pretty competitive most of the race and on the lead lap, and we felt that a podium finish was definitely within our reach.
The team knew from the outset that fighting for victory was always going to be a tall order, with the Corvette DPs suffering a marked speed deficit compared to the winning Ganassi Riley-BMW car, though I take nothing away from that team or those drivers for their victory.
I was driving with my ALMS Corvette Racing team mates Richard Westbrook and Antonio Garcia, plus Ricky Taylor who is Richard’s season-long SDR team mate in the GRAND-AM Series. We all had our fair share of struggles through the 24-hours, mostly associated with a fairly minor technical issue which snowballed into a major one. We were quite glad to get to 3:30 pm on Sunday.
There’s a couple of turns on the infield section of the Daytona International Speedway course that have quite punishing kerbs and the SDR car – like many others – was given a big bang over one of them early on. The long and short of it was that caused a bracket holding the exhaust to work loose and giving fans a fairly impressive light show as we trailed a plume of sparks behind us.
The weight of the exhaust, without the bracket doing its full job, caused the muffler to drop and rub on the ground and the floor got pulled away on the left hand side of the car. As the damage got slowly worse and worse, and the hole in the floor got bigger, it was having a big negative effect on our performance. All the exhaust heat that is usually ejected out of the back of the car was sent round the internals instead.
For the last couple of hours I was sitting in the motorhome listening to the radio and hearing Antonio, then Richard, reporting in every other lap saying something else had gone: helmet blower, cool suit, battery voltage, misfires. Everything was getting so hot because the No.1 cylinder on the left bank of the engine had sheared off right at the block which was super-heating whole engine bay and melting the cable ties holding wiring onto tubes, the frame etc. The wiring then dropped and got pulled around moving parts and it all got very messy.
We were counting down the laps, praying it was going to make it. Richard, who drove the final couple of stints, said the heat inside the car was phenomenal plus there were fumes as well so it was quite an aggressive environment in which to try and get to the finish.
Hindsight’s a wonderful thing but at the time our focus was staying with the leaders on the same lap. Maybe if we’d stopped and fixed the bracket we might have lost 4-5 laps, but then again the chances were we could have made it up with cautions, like Michael Shank Racing did. We’ll never know.
Using and benefitting from that experience is, I guess, that’s what makes us come back again and again. It’s likely this will be the last time I’ll race a Daytona Prototype in the 24-hour event as this time next year, thanks to the merged GRAND-AM and ALMS series, and all being well I’ll be in the all-new Corvette C7.R.
It’ll be interesting to see how it will perform at Daytona next year and it’s going to be a voyage of discovery for all of us!
~Olly
A former British F3 Champion and Formula One test driver, Oliver Gavin has raced in North America for the last decade for Corvette Racing, representing General Motors. He has achieved three American Le Mans Series GT1 Championship titles and four GT1 class wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and in 2012 won the ALMS GT class championship with co-driver Tommy Milner.
For more information, visit: www.olivergavin.com, Facebook Oliver Gavin, or Twitter @OliverGavin
With the benefit of hindsight and a good night’s sleep, I’d have to say that fifth was a good result for us especially as the car was suffering from a broken exhaust and was actually parked in the pit lane towards the end. If that was Le Mans we wouldn’t have been classified, as you have to be running for it to count. It was all the more frustrating because we’d been pretty competitive most of the race and on the lead lap, and we felt that a podium finish was definitely within our reach.
The team knew from the outset that fighting for victory was always going to be a tall order, with the Corvette DPs suffering a marked speed deficit compared to the winning Ganassi Riley-BMW car, though I take nothing away from that team or those drivers for their victory.
I was driving with my ALMS Corvette Racing team mates Richard Westbrook and Antonio Garcia, plus Ricky Taylor who is Richard’s season-long SDR team mate in the GRAND-AM Series. We all had our fair share of struggles through the 24-hours, mostly associated with a fairly minor technical issue which snowballed into a major one. We were quite glad to get to 3:30 pm on Sunday.
There’s a couple of turns on the infield section of the Daytona International Speedway course that have quite punishing kerbs and the SDR car – like many others – was given a big bang over one of them early on. The long and short of it was that caused a bracket holding the exhaust to work loose and giving fans a fairly impressive light show as we trailed a plume of sparks behind us.
The weight of the exhaust, without the bracket doing its full job, caused the muffler to drop and rub on the ground and the floor got pulled away on the left hand side of the car. As the damage got slowly worse and worse, and the hole in the floor got bigger, it was having a big negative effect on our performance. All the exhaust heat that is usually ejected out of the back of the car was sent round the internals instead.
For the last couple of hours I was sitting in the motorhome listening to the radio and hearing Antonio, then Richard, reporting in every other lap saying something else had gone: helmet blower, cool suit, battery voltage, misfires. Everything was getting so hot because the No.1 cylinder on the left bank of the engine had sheared off right at the block which was super-heating whole engine bay and melting the cable ties holding wiring onto tubes, the frame etc. The wiring then dropped and got pulled around moving parts and it all got very messy.
We were counting down the laps, praying it was going to make it. Richard, who drove the final couple of stints, said the heat inside the car was phenomenal plus there were fumes as well so it was quite an aggressive environment in which to try and get to the finish.
Hindsight’s a wonderful thing but at the time our focus was staying with the leaders on the same lap. Maybe if we’d stopped and fixed the bracket we might have lost 4-5 laps, but then again the chances were we could have made it up with cautions, like Michael Shank Racing did. We’ll never know.
Using and benefitting from that experience is, I guess, that’s what makes us come back again and again. It’s likely this will be the last time I’ll race a Daytona Prototype in the 24-hour event as this time next year, thanks to the merged GRAND-AM and ALMS series, and all being well I’ll be in the all-new Corvette C7.R.
It’ll be interesting to see how it will perform at Daytona next year and it’s going to be a voyage of discovery for all of us!
~Olly
A former British F3 Champion and Formula One test driver, Oliver Gavin has raced in North America for the last decade for Corvette Racing, representing General Motors. He has achieved three American Le Mans Series GT1 Championship titles and four GT1 class wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and in 2012 won the ALMS GT class championship with co-driver Tommy Milner.
For more information, visit: www.olivergavin.com, Facebook Oliver Gavin, or Twitter @OliverGavin
Road Atlanta
LATEST HEADLINES: AUTO-RACING
-
V8: Red Bull's Whincup On A Roll At COTA
Jamie Whincup takes pole for V8 Supercar Races 15 and 16, Live! on… -
V8: Nissan Coming To Grips With New Altima
John Dagys explores Nissan's new factory venture in V8 Supercars… -
GT: O'Connell, Aschenbach Win Saturday's WC GT, GTS Races At COTA…
Johnny O’Connell led all the way to win Saturday’s Pirelli… -
V8: COTA Saturday Notebook
John Dagys explores some of the storylines from Saturday’s… -
V8: Whincup Sweeps Saturday's Rounds At COTA
Red Bull Racing goes 1-2 in opening rounds of V8 Supercars at Circuit… -
ELMS: TDS Oreca-Nissan Wins Imola
Mathias Beche, Pierre Thiriet claim victory in second round of European… -
INDYCAR: Ed Carpenter Scores Shock Indy 500 Pole At 228.782 MPH
Carpenter had the Brickyard in a state of rapture as he knocked off… - More News
