Corvette Racing driver Oliver Gavin lent his services to Barwell Motorsport this weekend for the Total 24h Hours of Spa and saw success, putting the team on the podium following a late race push by the Briton.
Gavin shared the No. 666 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 with co-drivers Jon Minshaw, Phil Keen and Joe Osbourne, racing in the Blancpain GT Endurance Cup’s Pro-Am Series. Keen qualified 20th, but the team was bumped up to ninth overall on the grid after other competitors received grid penalties.
When racing got underway, there were incidents aplenty for the No. 666 Lamborghini. In the first 12 hours the team suffered a puncture and made contact with another car. They recovered overnight, however, and had moved up to 2nd in class and 22nd overall with four hours remaining.
Another puncture then dropped the team down fourth, at which point Gavin stepped in and begun making up some much-needed ground. His team also drove well under intense pressure in the closing hours, eventually crossing the finish line third in class.
Gavin said the race was difficult due to changing weather conditions and a high-level of driving in the race compared to previous years. He also said switching from the front-engine Corvette to the mid-engine Lamborghini took some acclimation.
“I’ve driven the Corvette for a number of years and it can take some getting used to when you switch cars,” he said. “It’s almost as if you have to forget large chunks of what you’ve learned and start from scratch. The three main differences in the Lamborghini are the ABS, the Pirelli tyre and the engine being in the middle! These things all takes some getting used to but we found the pace and in the end secured a great result for the team.”
Gavin will now return to America for the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship Road Race Showcase from Road America on August 7th.
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