The story ahead of the race weekend
- Oliver Gavin and Corvette Racing teammate Tommy Milner head to Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas this coming weekend (17 September, 2016) for the Lone Star Le Mans race
- Gavin and Milner lead the WeatherTech Sportscar Championship by seven points
- Gavin has been busy since the last race with some driver coaching for Aidan Read in Malaysia
- He also took the opportunity to drive some classic racing machinery at the Goodwood Revival.
Gavin says:
A busy schedule since the last race at VIR with some driver coaching…
“I’ve been out in Sepang, Malaysia mentoring and coaching young Aidan Read. Aidan has grown a lot as a driver over the year and the last race weekend in Sepang was a great example of that. He won all three races in both wet and dry conditions, so delighted for him. It was a great way to bounce back after being struck down by illness at the previous round of the championship.”
A fantastic weekend at the Goodwood Revival…
“I’ve also been racing and competing at the Goodwood Revival. This is a wonderful weekend at an amazing race track and facility. The machinery that’s raced and put on display is quite remarkable. Whether that’s World War II fighter planes or some of the most exotic one off sports cars from the 1950’s and 60’s. My wife Helen and I had a great weekend.
“I drove an Austin A35 in the St Mary’s Trophy race on Saturday afternoon, finishing seventh in tricky wet conditions.
“On Sunday I was entered into the headline race of the weekend, the one-hour two driver RAC TT for 1960’s sports cars. I was sharing a car with Craig Davies, a passionate and skilled historic racer who’d entered a 1965 Corvette StingRay.
“Craig started the race and marched up the order, getting us up into the top ten before handing it over to me at around 25-minute mark. Unfortunately, as soon as I left the pits the car developed a transmission problem and I knew we wouldn’t be able to finish. I pitted a couple of laps later. It was a great shame as the 600bhp StingRay had been performing fantastically… Next year maybe!”
Heading back to the US for the penultimate round of the championship at COTA…
“Switching gears now and I’m heading back to the USA and the next round of the WeatherTech championship at COTA, Austin, Texas. It’s usually very hot and humid for this event but the weather can sometimes surprise you with big and heavy storms.”
How the Corvette C7.R is expected to handle on this super-fast circuit…
“COTA is quite unique for the USA. It’s the newest facility we race at in our championship. It has a whole series of fast sweeping turns that call for a lot of aerodynamic downforce but then there are a couple of very long straights with very slow corners at the either end, so straight line speed is also important. It’s a balancing act and somewhat a compromise on the chassis-car setup.”
On leading the championship by a slender margin…
“It’s getting down to the business end of the year. We have a seven-point lead going into this weekend and our focus is on scoring as many points as possible. As it’s been with our class all year, the competition will be intense and any error – or bad luck – will see you sliding down the order. Once again Tommy, I and all at Corvette Racing will need to be on the top of our game.”
Planning and preparation by the Corvette Racing Team…
“Our test at Atlanta last month did help us unlock some car speed at VIR, we hope to be able to carry those findings over to COTA and have a strong run. We are ready, motivated and looking forward to the challenge this weekend brings!”