54 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 8 APRIL 2 020
M
O
T
O
R
S
P
O
R
T
RACING LINES
Damien Smith
ur world may
be on hold, but
imagine the
release of energy
when real life can start again.
It’s a warm thought to cling
t o, e v e n i f w e h av e no c lue
when that time might come.
In terms of motorsport
(insignificant, I know, but
always a welcome distraction
f r om r e a l l i fe , e v e n i n t he
best of times), you have to
wonder how likely it now is
that international racing
w i l l b e s c r at c he d f r om t he
rest of 2020. Once lockdown
ends, exactly when will
overseas travel be allowed?
Week s? Or mont hs? T he
immediate future has neverbeen foggier.
A WORLD TURNED
UPSIDE DOWN
Oliver Jarvis is among the
m i nor it y of d r i v e r s t o h av e
actually raced this year,
along with those competing
in Formula E. The sports
car specialist saw action
at the Daytona 24 Hours
in January, where he took
pole position in his Joest-
run Mazda prototype and
finished second in the race,
and then travelled directly to
the Bathurst 12 Hours to race
for Bentley’s GT3 squad.
A du a l c a mpa i g n i n t he US
with Mazda and in Europe
with Bentley promised an
exciting season – but since
then, as for us all, his year has
b e e n t u r ne d up side dow n.
Not only by the coronavirus;
Mazda has also ended its
association with Joest, one
of the best sports car racing
teams in the world. The
Multimatic team, which
formerly ran the Ford GT
programme, will now take
full control of a campaign
for which it was already
providing the engineering.
“ T he s a d pa r t i s t he Jo e s t
guys would have got to saygoodbye at the Sebring
1 2 Hou r s , but t h at w a s
cancelled,” says Jarvis,
w ho, l i k e e v e r y one e l s e ,
i s lon g i n g t o r e t u r n t o
s ome for m of nor m a l it y.
But let’s set aside the
f r u s t r at ion s of t o d ay. Ja r v i s ,
like many others in sports
car racing, is looking further
down the line to the arrival of
the new LMH hypercar class
at L e Ma n s , plu s t he a c c ord
with US organiser IMSA that
will allow its next-generation
L M Dh r a c e r s t o c omp e t e at
the 24 Hours also. This new
era – whenever it begins –
could open a new chapter
in the Englishman’s career
and even give him another
crack at winning Le Mans.
A three-time podium
f i n i she r w it h A ud i’s hu ge l y
successful Joest-run LMP1
team, he was left high and
dry when the car maker
withdrew from the World
Endurance Championshipand Le Mans in 2016. He
won the LMP2 class at the
24 Hours and finished a
r e m a rk a ble s e c ond i n 2 017
(ironically his best result at
the race), but he could have
been forgiven for thinking
his career had then peaked.
REASONS TO
BE CHEERFUL
“I wouldn’t say I thought
that was it, but there
were certainly concerns,
because there weren’t many
opportunities,” says Jarvis.
“Audi had pulled out and
Porsche and Toyota were full.
Then Porsche pulled out too.
“It has been great to
see Toyota continue, but
without this [LMDh-LMH]
announcement, to be frank,
to go back and fight for theoverall win was very unlikely.
“However, it works with
Balance of Performance,
which is almost a dirty word:
an LMDh car should be able
to race against a Toyota
hypercar. It will entice so
many manufacturers both
from Europe and America.”
BoP – artificially
equalising performance
between cars of different
c onc e p t s – i s i nde e d a n
uncomfortable subject,
but Jarvis understandably
Oliver Jarvis knows all about setbacks, but he’s still an optimist
LOOKING TO A BRIGHTER FUTURE
Jarvis piloted his
Mazda to second at
Sebring in January
O
`
I feel like I’m doing better
than ever. I’m so fortunate
to still be doing what I love
a
S
i
x
p
a
g
e
s
o
f
n
e
w
s
,
i
n
s
i
g
h
t
a
n
d
o
p
i
n
i
o
n
f
r
o
m
t
h
e
w
o
r
l
d
o
f
m
o
t
o
r
r
a
c
i
n
g