Gavin: Corvette fortitude provides fairytale finish
Corvette Racing's Oliver Gavin felt his teams' phenomenal fortitude helped it earn a fairytale finish to the 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours, after clinching the GTE Pro class victory by a comfortable five-lap margin.
The American squad suffered a nightmare start to the Le Mans race week after Jan Magnussen suffered a mechanical failure in the sister #63 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R machine after colliding heavily with the concrete barriers twice in the Porsche Curves on Thursday qualifying.
The damage to the GT Pro machine was impossible to fix and Corvette were forced to pull the car out of the race, leaving Gavin's #64 Corvette to battle on alone.
Gavin and co-drivers Tommy Milner and Jordan Taylor were able to largely stay out of trouble during the 24 hour race and won the war of attrition against its Aston Martin and Ferrari rivals, who all suffered mechanical issues in the latter stages of the race.
"It is almost a fairytale story the way everything turned out over the week," Gavin said. "After the number 63 car had its issues and not being able to race. The way the team came together and led us into the race and have this fantastic result today is amazing."
The British driver, who recorded his fifth victory at Le Mans - all with Corvette - also says he team had been anticipating a moment when it would also suffer an issue with the number 64 but were delighted to reach the chequered flag without any serious incidents.
"It has been one of those days were you are waiting for something to spring up or another hurdle to come in your way to stop you having the victory," he said. "It was a spectacular race for Tommy, Jordan and myself.
"You're having great races with Aston Martin, Ferrari and Porsche but in the end we were the strongest car and have come away with the victory. We are absolutely delighted. This is my fifth victory here at Le Mans and I'm thrilled to get that with Corvette Racing. I'm a very happy man."
