Darren Turner on Oliver Gavin: My Greatest Rival

My greatest rival is more about a car than a driver. Racing for Aston Martin I’ve been battling the Chevrolet Corvettes for so many years, in particular the Corvette driven by Oliver Gavin with whom I’ve had countless close races.

“Oli has been a great rival as well as a good friend. We were both Autosport Young Driver of the Year award winners and we’ve enjoyed a lot of good, clean competition which is important in long-distance racing. You have to look after the car so you don’t want too many scraps and scrapes when there are still so many hours ahead of you.

“The first time I came up against the Corvettes was in America when I was racing the Prodrive Ferrari 550 in the Le Mans Series. The big challenge was to beat the might of the Corvettes in their own back yard; it was David and Goliath. Both the Aston Martins and the Corvettes are front-engined GT cars so they’re similar to race.

“In the DBR9 it was good, wholesome competition with a bit of trading paints and a few scrapes along the way. At Le Mans Oli and I would be in close proximity but we’d swap around without holding each other up. You can do that when you know he’s not going to trip you up. It was proper, hard racing but no wheel-banging or stuff like that. One night we were side by side on the Mulsanne and we had a good drag race down to Mulsanne corner, a bit of squabbling over one of the chicanes, good, hard, close racing without pulling off any moves. He’s won Le Mans five times, I’ve won three, and to race someone over such a long period is really good when there’s trust and respect.

“We borrowed Oli to drive for Aston Martin in a WEC race at COTA after my regular co-driver was injured. We were doing well in the championship and needed the points. Corvette were happy to lend him to us. That shows the level of respect between the teams. It was great to have him. It’s the only time I ever really wanted him to do well!

“He’s incredibly consistent, every time he gets in a car, so I had to bring my best game to beat him in the Corvette. We used to talk about each other’s cars but, while you try to be honest, you don’t want to give anything away. We’re all protecting our own interests at Aston Martin, same at Corvette, so you don’t get much information. That only happens when a driver leaves one manufacturer and joins another.

“I would trust what Oli told me but knew he’d never give away too much. He’s been around a long time and he’s a wise old fox. He’s retired now but maybe one day he’ll set up his own team. I’ll stop driving and set up mine, and the rivalry will continue.”

Darren Turner and Oliver Gavin head-to-head

Stats taken from Le Mans 24 Hours 2003-19; Gavin also raced in 2001 (class finish 3rd)
and ’02 (class finish 1st)