Jul
21
Olly Gavin: Looking to Lime Rock
Hi everyone. Sorry there’s been a bit of lull in my blogs but I’m sad to say you haven’t missed much. We got our first podium finish of the year at Laguna Seca just before Le Mans but it’s been pretty disastrous since then. We had an engine failure stop us in the 18th hour at Le Mans, while holding a good lead, and Salt Lake two weeks ago was effectively over within a couple of laps after an electrical problem lost us three laps. I think we scraped home 10th in class.
Still, onwards and upwards as they say. We’re heading off now to a very pretty part of the USA, North West Connecticut. Lime Rock Park has held sports car races for decades but it’s not a favourite for many of us and is variously described as a bull ring or a short track with hills. I think it’s like stepping into a gladiatorial arena.
The track is just 1.51 miles long, tight and twisty, and there’s no room for manoeuvre – especially when the battles will be as closely fought as likely this coming weekend. I won there for Corvette Racing three times in the now-obsolete GTS class, and know how tough it is to cross that finish line first.
Lime Rock marks the half way point in the year and I think it’s no understatement to say that everyone in the team will admit it hasn’t so far been a season for us to remember warmly! We’ve had different issues and problems at different races, but hopefully now we’ll be able to turn the corner and have a strong second half to the year.
Overtaking here is very difficult without a little bit of contact – make that a lot of contact – and I’m sure there will be plenty of that in the GT class. It’s been so close all year and you just know from the drivers and teams we’re up against that it’s hyper-competitive. There’s no quarter given.
Qualifying is going to be important, trying to get at the head of the bunch. You have to try and stay out of trouble which will be very tough, especially with slower prototype and LMPC cars not knowing what to do at the start or where to go. However, the less experienced drivers at the start might mix it up and that could work for you if you’re in the right place at the right time. There’s going to be some super competitive guys wanting to get to the front as quick as possible and stamp their authority on the race, and I can’t see it will be anything less than fighting tooth and nail for the whole 2 hours and 45 minutes.
It’s going to be very competitive but a fun weekend in that respect. I think that Ferrari and the Risi team are the ones to beat at the moment, they are on a roll with three pole positions this year and their car seems to be very good. Gimmi and Jaime had another victory in the LMS Algarve round last weekend so it looks like they are working extremely well together as team mates and that’s an added strength.
The #4 Corvette crew has to be on its game this weekend: car, drivers, crew, and engineers; we can’t afford any more slip ups or mistakes. We will have to be very good as any tiny little error is punished severely in this category.
Olly