The drivers, teams and hundreds of thousands of spectators are gathering at Le Mans this week for the 76th running of the World's Greatest Sporstcar Race!  This year the flag will drop at 3.00 pm local time on Saturday 14th June and 24 hours of high speed competitive racing will begin.  We can guarantee thrills and spills, controversy, excitement, joy and despair as 55 cars battle around the 13.629 Km (8.47 mile) circuit. 

Much of the track still utilises public roads creating a unique mixture of road surfaces, fast and slow corners and track conditions.  The length of the circuit means that the weather can change drammatically and inconsistently, it can be dry on one part of the circuit and very wet at another.  Add in the elements of racing through the night and reaching top speeds greater than 215 mph and it becomes clear what a challenge for both man and machine this event creates.

In 2007 251,000 spectators saw the leading car complete no less than 3,125 miles in the 24 hours, that's about the same distance from the closest points between the UK and US!

The race has two divsions and four classes.  The Prototype division has two classes, LMP1 and LMP2.  This is for open or closed purpose built racing cars and the two classes regulate areas such as engine power, minimum weight, tyre widths etc.  In the GT division there are again two classes, GT1 and GT2.  These are cars based on road cars and also split based on power, weight etc.

Oliver is again driving for Corvette Racing in the GT1 Class, a class he has previously won on four occasions.  He will be sharing the No 64 Compuware Corvette C6.R with Olivier Beretta and Max Papis.  Their main competition for class honours will be their sister Corvette (No 63) driven by Johnny O'Connell, Jan Magnussen and Ron Fellows and the two Prodrive Aston Martin DBR9s (Nos 007 & 009) who have a driver line up including David Brabham, Darren Turner, Antonio Garcia, Heinz Harald Frentzen, Andrea Piccini and Karl Wendlinger.

Corvette Racing are out reverse the result in 2007 and take the class win back from Aston Martin.  The crew of No 64 will also be looking to put last year's result behind them when the car stopped after just 22 laps.  The objective is to get a Corvette (63 or 64) back on the top step of the podium!

There are also two more Corvettes, two more Aston Martins, a Saleen and a Lamborghini in the GT1 class this year and, given the nature of the uncertainty of a 24 hour race, all of them are in with a chance of a great result.

The GT1 class will almost certainly be another epic battle between Corvette and Aston Martin and there are also two manufacturers that will battle hard for the LMP1 class and overall victory.  Audi have dominated this event in recent years but Peugeot have proved quickest so far in 2008 and the two diesel powered entries (three cars from each team) will provide a facinating battle this year.

The event literally lasts for a week with scrutineering in front of large crowds in the centre of Le Mans itself on Monday and Tuesday.  The first track action starts on Wednesday with practice and qualifying starting at 7.00 pm (6.00 pm UK time).  Two 2 hour sessions follow finishing at midnight.  This is reapeated again on Thursday.  Friday is a day without track time but the famous drivers parade takes place through Le Mans between 6.00 pm and 7.00 pm.

The race itself starts at 3.00 pm (2.00 pm UK time) on Saturday and finishes at 3.00 pm on Sunday.

The entire race is being broadcast in the UK on Eurosport and you can also follow the action with live timing www.lemans.org and live radio at www.radiolemans.com.  We will also be endeavouring to keep you updated on Oliver's progress with reports and videopodcasts at www.olivergavin.com.

Click here for a full list of entries.
Click here for the provisional event schedule.
Click here for a circuit map.