-
Home
- TV Shows
- TV Schedule
- NASCAR
-
Latest Headlines: 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
Le Mans / ALMS
IN THE COCKPIT: Oliver Gavin, Sebring
I’ve been doing this long enough now to know that the harder a victory is fought for, the sweeter it is...
Oliver Gavin teamed with Tommy Milner and Richard Westbrook to win Saturday's Twelve Hours of Sebring. (Photo: courtesy, Oliver Gavin)
I’ve been doing this long enough now to know that the harder a victory is fought for, the sweeter it is, but I’d be happy if we didn’t have to put that to the test again this season! The Sebring 12 Hours was an unbelievable GT race and a brilliant start to our 2013 ALMS title bid; winning it by 2.7 seconds after 12 hard hours of racing and two setbacks just proved what a team Corvette Racing is.
I hadn’t stood on the top step of the podium at Sebring since 2007 and it was a first win in the 12 Hours for both Tommy [Milner] and Richard [Westbrook] – plus it was Corvette’s first GT win there – so it meant an awful lot to all of us. Add in to all that the fact that it was the last ALMS Sebring and it was a pretty emotional experience. We don’t know exactly how next year or the future will look yet, but hope that the many Grand-Am officials who were at Sebring will have seen and appreciated what a great event it is.
Coming off the back of last year’s championship, to all intents and purposes it looks like we picked up where we left off as ALMS GT Champions but, although it was a fantastic year for everyone at Corvette, the No. 4 car crew missed out on the ‘big ones’ in 2012. It didn’t go right for us at Sebring, Le Mans or Petit Le Mans last year so there was a lot of focus on us coming into this race.
We had quite a good week in practice leading up to the start, and we knew we’d be right in the mix in terms of pace, but there was plenty of tough opposition from the Vipers, the Risi Ferrari and the Porsches. BMW had been pretty quiet in practice and qualifying but you can never count them out at any time, as they proved in the race.
I managed to put us on the front row of the (GT) grid and was really happy with the start I got, getting a jump on the pole-setting Risi Ferrari of Gimmi Bruni. We pulled out quite a good lead and kept that up until almost a quarter distance and then it all started to go wrong. Richard was at the wheel for the first of his stints and said that what happened was like an indoor firework going off!
We had a small electrical fire behind the dashboard in the car due to a wiring issue which filled the cockpit with smoke, but fortunately Richard was at Turn 17 when it happened so he quickly peeled off into the pits. Unfortunately the damage had already knocked out the pit lane speed limiter and we ended up not only losing a bit of time for repairs, but also had to serve a penalty for pit lane speeding.
Quick thinking by one of our guys prevented the damage from being greater, and it meant we only lost a lap but then had to start the fight back. The GT class is so intense that it took 40 laps for us to be back in the top seven. Fortunately one of only four caution periods, plus some great pit work by the crew, got us out in 4th place around half distance and we were back in it.
Circumstances were conspiring against us though and we were unbelievably frustrated to find ourselves behind again when an unfortunate incident with another GT car saw Richard being penalized by officials. Blue flags were being waved but I don’t think the other driver saw them and he ended up going off quite hard. It wasn’t intentional contact and I think the stop/go plus 60 seconds was a bit harsh; it certainly put our fighting spirit to the test.
By this time the Risi Ferrari had got into quite a good lead but we set about chipping away at it, lap by lap. Tommy was absolutely brilliant in the last two hours, stringing together qualifying lap after qualifying lap, and that combined with some fantastic pit stops from the crew guys got us back in the game… and some! He put the pressure on the Ferrari repeatedly until it paid off, 14 minutes before the end, but it was a nail-biter right to the checker.
A huge thank you to everyone for their support, good wishes and congratulations - it means a lot. I hope that our next race in Long Beach goes as well…it did last year!
See you there,
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
I hadn’t stood on the top step of the podium at Sebring since 2007 and it was a first win in the 12 Hours for both Tommy [Milner] and Richard [Westbrook] – plus it was Corvette’s first GT win there – so it meant an awful lot to all of us. Add in to all that the fact that it was the last ALMS Sebring and it was a pretty emotional experience. We don’t know exactly how next year or the future will look yet, but hope that the many Grand-Am officials who were at Sebring will have seen and appreciated what a great event it is.
Coming off the back of last year’s championship, to all intents and purposes it looks like we picked up where we left off as ALMS GT Champions but, although it was a fantastic year for everyone at Corvette, the No. 4 car crew missed out on the ‘big ones’ in 2012. It didn’t go right for us at Sebring, Le Mans or Petit Le Mans last year so there was a lot of focus on us coming into this race.
We had quite a good week in practice leading up to the start, and we knew we’d be right in the mix in terms of pace, but there was plenty of tough opposition from the Vipers, the Risi Ferrari and the Porsches. BMW had been pretty quiet in practice and qualifying but you can never count them out at any time, as they proved in the race.
I managed to put us on the front row of the (GT) grid and was really happy with the start I got, getting a jump on the pole-setting Risi Ferrari of Gimmi Bruni. We pulled out quite a good lead and kept that up until almost a quarter distance and then it all started to go wrong. Richard was at the wheel for the first of his stints and said that what happened was like an indoor firework going off!
We had a small electrical fire behind the dashboard in the car due to a wiring issue which filled the cockpit with smoke, but fortunately Richard was at Turn 17 when it happened so he quickly peeled off into the pits. Unfortunately the damage had already knocked out the pit lane speed limiter and we ended up not only losing a bit of time for repairs, but also had to serve a penalty for pit lane speeding.
Quick thinking by one of our guys prevented the damage from being greater, and it meant we only lost a lap but then had to start the fight back. The GT class is so intense that it took 40 laps for us to be back in the top seven. Fortunately one of only four caution periods, plus some great pit work by the crew, got us out in 4th place around half distance and we were back in it.
Circumstances were conspiring against us though and we were unbelievably frustrated to find ourselves behind again when an unfortunate incident with another GT car saw Richard being penalized by officials. Blue flags were being waved but I don’t think the other driver saw them and he ended up going off quite hard. It wasn’t intentional contact and I think the stop/go plus 60 seconds was a bit harsh; it certainly put our fighting spirit to the test.
By this time the Risi Ferrari had got into quite a good lead but we set about chipping away at it, lap by lap. Tommy was absolutely brilliant in the last two hours, stringing together qualifying lap after qualifying lap, and that combined with some fantastic pit stops from the crew guys got us back in the game… and some! He put the pressure on the Ferrari repeatedly until it paid off, 14 minutes before the end, but it was a nail-biter right to the checker.
A huge thank you to everyone for their support, good wishes and congratulations - it means a lot. I hope that our next race in Long Beach goes as well…it did last year!
See you there,
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
FIA WEC Six Hours of Spa
LATEST HEADLINES: AUTO-RACING
-
PHOTOS: V8 Supercars COTA Gallery
UPDATED: View more than 150 photos from Austin as V8 Supercars Austin… -
GT: Black Falcon Mercedes Wins Rain-Soaked Nurburgring 24
Sean Edwards, Bernd Schneider, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Nicki Thiim… -
DAGYS: A Bright Future For V8 Supercars In America
John Dagys reflects back on the successful inaugural Austin 400 and… -
GT: Sofronas, Lee Win Sunday's WC GT, GTS Races At COTA
GMG Racing's James Sofronas takes Audi R8 LMS to third Pirelli World… -
MILLER: Carpenter's Simply A Great Story
Regardless of what his detractors might say, Ed Carpenter's mighty… -
V8: Whincup Dominates Austin 400
Red Bull Racing Driver wins three of the four 100km sprints in V8… -
INDYCAR: Newgarden Fastest Sunday Indy 500 Qualifier, Legge Completes…
Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing's Josef Newgarden led Sunday's final… - More News
