Oliver was 'shadowed' during the Rolex 24 at Daytona by Fiona Miller, who created a series of articles for the website www.dailysportscar.com.  These articles produced a fascinating insight into Oliver's experiences at the event and we are delighted to be able to reproduce them in full here.  Part 1 is below, Part 2 is on a separate page!

Thank you to Fiona Miller and dailysportscar.com.  We have also inserted a number of photogaphs that are provided by (and copyright of) Rick Dole:

Oliver's Thoughts Before the Event

Oliver Gavin is facing his second Daytona 24 Hours and here he looks forward to the event and reflects a little on the forthcoming season.

"Daytona is a lot of fun but a real challenge.  This year it's going to be a very tough race as there are so many cars and so many drivers who are talented and good.  There's real strength in depth this year, and you could chose any one of about 15 or 20 cars to win.  Our deal has come together quite late but Tracy Krohn and Kevin Buckler have worked hard to get all the pieces in place to have a strong and competitive set up."

"It's my second time here. I did it in 2002 with Dyson, driving with James Weaver and Butch Leitzinger, which was a huge amount of fun.  Unfortunately, after a really good go at it and overcoming some technical hitches, we had a gearbox failure at about 2am which was a real shame."

"The Daytona 24 Hours is a hard race - it seems to be harder than Le Mans because there's more traffic, it's a smaller track and you're always passing someone, maybe 6,7,8 or even ten cars a lap.  You're unlikely to get through the race without some contact with someone! It's mentally very hard.  As far as seeing in the dark is concerned, it's very well lit around the track so not so much of a problem.  Not like Le Mans where you rely completely on the car's lights."

"I'm very pleased to be part of the driving team I'm in. I've never driven with Jorg before but I've met him quite a few times at races while he was driving the Porsche.  He's a really nice guy, very fast, and a good team mate.  And finally I'm driving with someone who is taller than me - we have to be the tallest driver line up on grid don't you think!  Max I've obviously raced with all last year in the Corvette team.  He's another really nice guy, fast and a very strong part of team as he has lots of experience from last year, being the Grand Am Champion and using a Riley and Scott (with a Lexus engine).   He has a lot of valuable experience with this kind of car."

"As far as the cars are concerned, there are huge differences between these cars and the ALMS ones.  The Daytona Prototype feels slightly lighter in the way it brakes, and it turns into some of corners a bit more nimbly, but the Corvette has more aerodynamic downforce.  Power wise, the Corvette has more, and it's sometimes a bit frustrating.  I'd prefer the Daytona Prototype to have more as it's a bit on the flat side but most drivers would always like more power!"

"I'm still trying to get used to the DP's driving position and being in the Riley & Scott surroundings and I feel more at home in the Corvette but that's down to being in that car for the last 3 years.  Having said that, the Riley & Scott is an easy car to get in and drive, and it doesn't have any nasty habits.  It's very drivable.  It's also a big car with lots of space inside so you don't feel so claustrophobic in the cockpit as maybe you might in some of other DP cars out there - a distinct advantage for our tall crew!  It's a solid car and a solid engine so we've got a great opportunity.

© Rick Dole 2005

"The deal for me to be with Krohn Racing/TRG came about as I'd seen on dsc that Kevin was going to run 2 DP cars which would have Pontiac engine in it.  Originally they were going to have Crawfords and then they changed to Rileys.  I saw Kevin at the Autosport Awards in December and we got talking and he asked what I was doing for Daytona.  I said I was interested, so we agreed to keep in touch and see what could be done.  I also spoke to Max a couple of times which may have helped or may not, I don't know.  We didn't know at that stage that Tracy Krohn was involved but it all fell into place just before Xmas and I think it's going to work, isn't it.  I've been wanting to do Daytona for the last couple of years, wanting to come back since the Dyson year."

"I had to clear it with GM and make sure everyone was happy with it but that all went smoothly.  They wanted Max and I to race but in the right cars and in right team so it all just fell into place beautifully.  Now we just have to get out there and get on with it."

Oliver's Thursday Qualifying

The day just got better .........

"We had a limiter problem in the morning's first practice which held us up for about half an hour. The rev limiter kept going back to a default setting but it got sorted out in the end.  Unfortunately that meant we didn't get much time in the car, probably only 2/3 laps each."

"In the afternoon practice Max drove for the whole time working on set up to get us into better shape for qualifying.  I didn't think we were going to have a realistic shot at pole but if we were in the top six I reckoned it would be good for us.  We are having a bit of a settling in period with Gerry Mason, our race engineer, but Max, Jorg and I all agree on how we want to set the car up so that's a good start."

© Rick Dole 2005

"Once the sun finally came out, after yesterday's rain and this morning's fog, it's really hot in the car and our race suits are made of a shiny material which doesn't breathe well.  It's like driving in a wet suit!!  Actually, when I got my new suit this morning I think there must have been a mix up with the sizes as it looked as though it was made for Jan Magnussen not me!  I could hardly get it over my big toe.  I did the first session in Max's spare suit instead."

"Considering how little time I had in the car during the day, I was feeling a bit tired.  Maybe it's all the running I'm doing.  I'm in training for the Paris marathon on April 10^th so I'm trying to run every day.  Much to my wife, Helen's, displeasure I ran every day on the recent holiday we had in Dubai - long runs of 2 hours or so - which takes quite a chunk out of the day.  Actually, she's a good sport so she understands - thankfully!"

"Max did a fantastic job in qualifying to put us into 3^rd place and that gave us all a boost.  Fortunately it was still dry for the start of night practice as Jorg and I were needing a bit more seat time, and I started the session."

"We started off a little bit late as we found a problem at the front of the car with the suspension, it was getting bound up on something.  The team found it, thought they'd fixed it and we went out but it happened again.  We decided to continue though rather than lose any more time.  It was okay.  The car was slipping and sliding around a lot as we were on hard tyres which were also quite old - these Hoosier tyres degrade quite quickly.  I stayed in for the whole of the session until it rained.  We didn't have a windscreen wiper which meant we couldn't continue in the rain, but they also had to change the engine so we decided to stop.  I'm hoping we'll have a wiper fixed for the race because otherwise we might be in a bit of trouble if it rains!"

"It's been a good day in the end, qualifying 3^rd which is great, and we made some progress with the car through that last session so I'm feeling quietly confident.  I'm a bit more optimistic than I was at the beginning of the day - I was a bit pessimistic first thing about a few areas but certainly the qualifying result helped us a lot and we are all looking forward to it."

"It should be an interesting race but I can see we are going to have our work cut out to beat teams like Sun Trust, Ganassi, Crawford, and others like that who've been doing it an awful lot longer than all of us have.  They know what you need to get these cars to the finish."