One of the relatively unsung heroes of the extraordinary Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hours was Oliver Gavin.
His late deal to race at Mount Panorama marked the achievement of one of his childhood dreams: to drive at Bathurst in Australia.
That achievement though was tinged with disappointment as Corvette Racing’s four-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner wasn’t able to finish the race due to a highly unusual engine problem for the Rotek Racing Audi R8 LMS that he was campaigning.
Olly reflected afterwards:
“I really enjoyed my time at Bathurst and it was great to drive on such a fantastic track. The results from the race weren’t what anyone from Rotek wanted which is a huge shame as we were in a very strong position, but that’s racing sometimes. The failure of the valve spring was completely out of the blue.
“Obviously I want to thank Rotek Racing, BAM Motorsport and Rob Huff for this whole event and having me along; hopefully we can do it all again next year. I also want to sincerely thank Corvette Racing for allowing me to do this.”
Entered in the Class B Rotek Racing Audi R8 LMS for the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hours, alongside WTCC Champion Rob Huff, Richard Meins and Kevin Gleason, Olly showed his championship-winning class as a driver by storming to class pole position in qualifying after only ten laps around the infamously tricky Mount Panorama circuit in New South Wales.
With a big field on the narrow confines of the 6.2km track, Olly’s huge bank of experience at endurance events was put to the test by the team when he was elected to start the race. He passed that particular Aussie driving test with flying colours – moving from 13th overall to 8th within the first 18 laps, sitting among the Class A front runners and never losing the Class B leadership and even leading the race overall on two occasions.
Unfortunately, after he handed over to Richard Meins, the Audi’s engine started misfiring. As Rob Huff took to the wheel for the start of his two-hour stint the situation got worse and he was forced to bring the car into the garage for checks. A broken valve spring was diagnosed and the car was forced to retire from the event after around one third distance.
It was a run that had promised a great deal but appetites amongst the team and their drivers have been whetted – Don’t bet against a return in 2015!
Photographs – Andrew Hall
