Tim Harvey
Encyclopedia
Tim Harvey is a racing driver from England
. He was the 2008 and 2010 Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain
Champion. A household name in the 1990s, Harvey won the prestigious BTCC
title in 1992, and was a frontrunner for most of the late 80s and early 90s. 2010 is his 28th successive season of racing
He was 8th overall in 1991. His 1992 title was achieved while driving a BMW 318 coupe, run by Vic Lee Motorsport
. He won five of the last seven races, having previously only won once. A dramatic final race saw him beat John Cleland
and reigning champion Will Hoy
to the title, after Hoy suffered an engine failure and Cleland clashed with Harvey's team-mate Steve Soper
He had a difficult 1993 season developing the Renault 19
for the new Renault entry but still managed to win the European Grand Prix support race
in lurid conditions, while he was outpaced by team-mate Alain Menu
in 1994 in the new Laguna. He raced for Volvo in 1995, using his wealth of experiance to develop the all new Volvo 850 saloon, finishing 5th overall and taking 2 wins but generally unable to match team-mate Rickard Rydell
. His experiance was then used to develop the new Peugeot 406, siging with the French marque in 1996 but was unable to deliver the win that eluded Peugeot during the heyday of the supertouring
years. He drove for Peugeot in the 1996
, 1997
and 1998 seasons
, his best year being 1997 where he finished 9th in the championship, which included two 2nd place finishes, and strong drives in the wet at Thruxton
.
After a couple of years away, his last BTCC years were 2001 (8th overall in a JSM Alfa Romeo
) and 10th in 2002 (reuniting with Vic Lee to drive one of his Peugeot
s, before quitting the series to pursue a media career.
for several years, finishing second to Richard Westbrook
in 2004 http://www.btccpages.com/2006/carreracup.php and Damien Faulkner
in 2006. In 2007, Harvey drove for Redline Racing
in the new 997 Porsche
GT3 in the British edition of the Carrera Cup. With stars such as Faulkner, Westbrook, Danny Watts
and Richard Williams
no longer competing, and Tim now in the top team of 2006, he started as title favourite, but finished up second again, by just four points behind James Sutton
.
In 2008 he continued to battle for the title, making his 100th series start (from just 106 races in total). Tim won the Porsche Carrera Cup Drivers Championship, on the 21st September at Brands Hatch
. He holds series records for podium finishes and fastest laps. He finished third in 2009, taking his first win of the year in race 6 at Thruxton and a double win at Snetterton. He then opened 2010 with nine wins in the first ten races (by contrast, he took 4 wins en route to the 2008 title). He wrapped up the 2010 title with one race to spare at Brands Hatch on 9 October with a second place finish behind Stephen Jelley
to ensure that he could not be caught by championship runner up Michael Caine. Following a puncture in race 20 which saw Harvey fail to score points for the first time in the season, Harvey claimed the 2010 Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship by 10 points, with 11 race wins (vs. Caine's 7). Harvey's two wins at Croft on 20 June saw him become the most successful driver in the history of the championship, with 33 race wins at the time (beating Richard Westbrook's 31 wins). He would end the season 4 clear, with 35 wins, and over 150 podiums.
At the end of May 2011, Harvey announced he was quitting the championship with immediate effect, citing difficulty in adapting to regulation changes as his motivation and allowing up and coming Kieran Vernon the opportunity to benefit from his seat in the Motorbase Performance car. He explained during the ITV4 coverage of the Oulton Park BTCC round on 5 June 2011 that he wasn't entirely retiring from racing and would be reappearing somewhere before long whilst continuing to commentate for ITV.
In what may have been his last Porsche race, Harvey won the Porsche Carrera Cup GB race held at a wet Nürburgring
in Germany as part of the Porsche Carrera World Cup. Harvey finished 13th overall, ahead of a number of the faster Supercup models.
in the halcyon days of the World Sportscar Championship
saw Tim battling the Jaguars and Mercedes Benz during the 1989 and 1990 seasons. He twice won the BRDC C2 Championship
in 1988 and 1989. He has also contested the 24 Hours of Le Mans
four times, winning his class in 1987. He won the British Sports Car Championship in 1999.
He is a double winner of the Oulton Park Gold Cup in 2000 and 2001, joining previous winners Stirling Moss
, Jim Clark
, Jackie Stewart
and many others. Tim has made sporadic albeit successful outings in the British GT Championship
, winning alongside various drivers in 2004 and 2005.
Harvey has also been a Touring car winner internationally, coming first in the Macau Grand Prix
street race in 1989 and the Wellington International in 1994. He has successfully raced in Japan, Australia, South Africa and all over Europe.
On 19 June 2011, Tim won a Round of the Ginetta GT Supercup at Croft
.
and Motors TV
with various other motorsport roles, including acting as driver coach for many up and coming young British drivers. He has also coached the Oxford University Motor Drivers Club to success in the British Universities Karting Championship.
In mid 2009 there were rumours that Harvey had a falling out with the BTCC Series Director Alan Gow, after commenting live on ITV during the 2009 BTCC meeting at Brands Hatch, "Well if Alan Gow gets his way, we'll be seeing a lot more of these safety cars" (referring to the supposed lack of resources made available to voluntary BTCC track marshalls) and during the Snetterton meeting, "There is Alan Gow, the BTCC Series dictator, er director". Towards the end of the season Harvey was far more complimentary to the running of the BTCC (referring to the series attracting ex-F1 star Johnny Herbert
to its ranks) indicating an improvement in relations with Gow.
In 2008, Tim was appointed Director of the British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC) SuperStars program, designed to support the most promising young British drivers both financially and in an advisory role.
He currently resides in Bicester, Oxfordshire with his wife Ruth. He has a son Jamie, who is currently working in Investment Banking with Berenberg Bank
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He was the 2008 and 2010 Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain
Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain
Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain is a one make racing series that takes place in the United Kingdom for the Porsche 911. It is currently one of the support series for the British Touring Car Championship...
Champion. A household name in the 1990s, Harvey won the prestigious BTCC
British Touring Car Championship
The British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom. The Championship was established in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship and has run to various rules over the years – "production cars", then FIA Group 1 or 2 in the late 1960s...
title in 1992, and was a frontrunner for most of the late 80s and early 90s. 2010 is his 28th successive season of racing
BTCC career
Harvey first raced in the BTCC in 1987, taking three Class A wins in a Rover Vitesse In 1988 and 1989 he dovetailed sports car racing with BTCC outings, before finishing third in Class A in 1990.He was 8th overall in 1991. His 1992 title was achieved while driving a BMW 318 coupe, run by Vic Lee Motorsport
Vic Lee Racing
Vic Lee Racing formerly Vic Lee Motorsport was a UK auto racing team, most famous for running BMWs and Peugeots in the British Touring Car Championship, and most infamous for the drug-related convictions of its owner Vic Lee....
. He won five of the last seven races, having previously only won once. A dramatic final race saw him beat John Cleland
John Cleland
John Cleland was an English novelist most famous and infamous as the author of Fanny Hill: or, the Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure....
and reigning champion Will Hoy
Will Hoy
William Ewing Hoy , was a British racing driver and the 1991 British Touring Car Champion, the highlight of a 20-year career in motor racing. Born in Melbourn, Cambridgeshire, Hoy did not begin racing until his late 20s and first raced at international level in 1985, taking on the full World...
to the title, after Hoy suffered an engine failure and Cleland clashed with Harvey's team-mate Steve Soper
Steve Soper
Steve Soper is a retired racing driver from Surrey, England, born in 1951. He raced in sports cars and touring cars at the top level for over 20 years. In 1983 he almost won the British Touring Car Championship before his Rover was deemed illegal. He finished as runner-up in the series in 1988 in a...
He had a difficult 1993 season developing the Renault 19
Renault 19
The Renault 19 is a small family car that was produced by the French car manufacturer Renault between 1988 and 2000.-Overview:The R19 was launched on September 1988 as the replacement for the 9 and 11, both of which were ageing and outdated by the late 1980s...
for the new Renault entry but still managed to win the European Grand Prix support race
1993 European Grand Prix
The 1993 European Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Donington Park on April 11, 1993. It was the third round of the 1993 Formula One season. The race was notable for the dominance of Ayrton Senna.-Report:...
in lurid conditions, while he was outpaced by team-mate Alain Menu
Alain Menu
Alain Menu is a Swiss racing driver. He was one of the most successful touring car drivers of the 1990s, winning the prestigious British Touring Car Championship twice . He currently races for Chevrolet in the World Touring Car Championship.- BTCC :He is the son of a farmer...
in 1994 in the new Laguna. He raced for Volvo in 1995, using his wealth of experiance to develop the all new Volvo 850 saloon, finishing 5th overall and taking 2 wins but generally unable to match team-mate Rickard Rydell
Rickard Rydell
Rickard Rydell is a Swedish racing driver. He won the 1998 British Touring Car Championship, the 2011 Scandinavian Touring Car Championship, and has also been a frontrunner in the European/World Touring Car Championship.-Early career:In the early 1990s, Rydell raced in various Formula Three series...
. His experiance was then used to develop the new Peugeot 406, siging with the French marque in 1996 but was unable to deliver the win that eluded Peugeot during the heyday of the supertouring
Supertouring
Super Touring, Class 2 or Class II was a motor racing Touring Cars category defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile for national touring car racing in 1993. It was based on the "2 litre Touring Car Formula" created for the British Touring Car Championship in 1990...
years. He drove for Peugeot in the 1996
1996 British Touring Car Championship season
The 1996 Auto Trader RAC British Touring Car Championship season marked the arrival of Audi to the sport with their four wheel drive A4s. The title was won by Frank Biela, with Swiss driver Alain Menu again finishing in second place and Swede Rickard Rydell in third.-BTCC:* Rouse Sport were neither...
, 1997
1997 British Touring Car Championship season
The 1997 Auto Trader RAC British Touring Car Championship was won by Alain Menu of the Williams Renault Laguna Dealer Racing team, who drove a Renault Laguna. The runner up was Frank Biela of Audi Sport UK in an Audi A4 Quattro. Third place was Menu's teammate, Jason Plato...
and 1998 seasons
1998 British Touring Car Championship season
The 1998 Auto Trader RAC British Touring Car Championship was a prominent BTCC season during the 'golden era' of touring car racing in Britain. It was eventually won by Rickard Rydell in a Volvo S40 with a round to spare. The runner-up was Anthony Reid in a Nissan Primera...
, his best year being 1997 where he finished 9th in the championship, which included two 2nd place finishes, and strong drives in the wet at Thruxton
Thruxton
-Other:*Thruxton Circuit, a racetrack in Hampshire*Triumph Thruxton 900, a motorcycle*Velocette Thruxton, a motorcycle...
.
After a couple of years away, his last BTCC years were 2001 (8th overall in a JSM Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of cars. Founded as A.L.F.A. on June 24, 1910, in Milan, the company has been involved in car racing since 1911, and has a reputation for building expensive sports cars...
) and 10th in 2002 (reuniting with Vic Lee to drive one of his Peugeot
Peugeot
Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion...
s, before quitting the series to pursue a media career.
Porsche Carrera Cup
He has raced in the Porsche Carrera CupPorsche Carrera Cup Great Britain
Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain is a one make racing series that takes place in the United Kingdom for the Porsche 911. It is currently one of the support series for the British Touring Car Championship...
for several years, finishing second to Richard Westbrook
Richard Westbrook
Richard Westbrook is an English racing driver from Islington in London notable for his success in racing Porsche cars. As a boy he attended St Joseph's College, Ipswich...
in 2004 http://www.btccpages.com/2006/carreracup.php and Damien Faulkner
Damien Faulkner
Damien Faulkner is an Irish race car driver from County Donegal. Beginning his professional career in Formula Vauxhall Junior in 1995, he competed in the Formula Ford Festival in 1996 and finished 11th...
in 2006. In 2007, Harvey drove for Redline Racing
Redline Racing
Redline Racing is a British racing team that is currently competing in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup and the Porsche Carrera Cup GB.Redline Racing, established in 1995, made its first entry in the arena of motorsport racing in April 1997 by competing in the Michelin Porsche Cup...
in the new 997 Porsche
Porsche
Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....
GT3 in the British edition of the Carrera Cup. With stars such as Faulkner, Westbrook, Danny Watts
Danny Watts
Danny Watts is a British racing driver.Danny Watts started racing in 1993, when he began karting. After five seasons of karting, he stepped up to single seater racing in 1998 in the UK Formula First championship, in which he dominated with 12 wins...
and Richard Williams
Richard Williams (racing driver)
Richard Williams is a British motor racing driver who competed in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup as a member of the SPS Automotive Performance Team.Richard's entry to motor sport opened in karting before moving to cars...
no longer competing, and Tim now in the top team of 2006, he started as title favourite, but finished up second again, by just four points behind James Sutton
James Sutton (racing driver)
James Sutton is a racing driver. He won the 2007 Porsche Carrera Cup-Early years:Before he embarked on a career in cars, Sutton raced in karting, winning the London Cup in 2000 before becoming the Junior TKM British champion in 2001, before moving onto Formula ICA and in 2003 racing in the British...
.
In 2008 he continued to battle for the title, making his 100th series start (from just 106 races in total). Tim won the Porsche Carrera Cup Drivers Championship, on the 21st September at Brands Hatch
Brands Hatch
Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit near West Kingsdown in Kent, England. First used as a dirt track motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently holds many British and international racing events...
. He holds series records for podium finishes and fastest laps. He finished third in 2009, taking his first win of the year in race 6 at Thruxton and a double win at Snetterton. He then opened 2010 with nine wins in the first ten races (by contrast, he took 4 wins en route to the 2008 title). He wrapped up the 2010 title with one race to spare at Brands Hatch on 9 October with a second place finish behind Stephen Jelley
Stephen Jelley
Stephen Jelley is a British auto racing driver.-Single Seaters:Jelley moved up from Formula Ford to the National Class of the British Formula Three Championship for 2004, taking three class wins. In 2006 and 2007 he drove for Räikkönen Robertson Racing in British F3...
to ensure that he could not be caught by championship runner up Michael Caine. Following a puncture in race 20 which saw Harvey fail to score points for the first time in the season, Harvey claimed the 2010 Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship by 10 points, with 11 race wins (vs. Caine's 7). Harvey's two wins at Croft on 20 June saw him become the most successful driver in the history of the championship, with 33 race wins at the time (beating Richard Westbrook's 31 wins). He would end the season 4 clear, with 35 wins, and over 150 podiums.
At the end of May 2011, Harvey announced he was quitting the championship with immediate effect, citing difficulty in adapting to regulation changes as his motivation and allowing up and coming Kieran Vernon the opportunity to benefit from his seat in the Motorbase Performance car. He explained during the ITV4 coverage of the Oulton Park BTCC round on 5 June 2011 that he wasn't entirely retiring from racing and would be reappearing somewhere before long whilst continuing to commentate for ITV.
In what may have been his last Porsche race, Harvey won the Porsche Carrera Cup GB race held at a wet Nürburgring
Nürburgring
The Nürburgring is a motorsport complex around the village of Nürburg, Germany. It features a modern Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a much longer old North loop track which was built in the 1920s around the village and medieval castle of Nürburg in the Eifel mountains. It is located about...
in Germany as part of the Porsche Carrera World Cup. Harvey finished 13th overall, ahead of a number of the faster Supercup models.
Other racing
Harvey has also been a prolific winner in sports cars. A distinguished career in international motorsport has given him a deep seated knowledge of the business and substantial reserves of experience. A factory driver for SpiceSpice Engineering
Spice Engineering was a British racing team founded by driver Gordon Spice with his brother Derek Spice in the early 1980s, later becoming a successful sports car constructor in 1986...
in the halcyon days of the World Sportscar Championship
World Sportscar Championship
The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992.The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance and road racing events in Europe and North America with dozens of gentleman drivers at the grid,...
saw Tim battling the Jaguars and Mercedes Benz during the 1989 and 1990 seasons. He twice won the BRDC C2 Championship
BRDC C2 Championship
The BRDC C2 Championship was a short lived sports car racing series which ran from 1988 to 1990. The series was for Group C cars which fit into the smaller, less powerful, and cheaper C2 category. All races were run in Great Britain...
in 1988 and 1989. He has also contested the 24 Hours of Le Mans
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, race teams have to balance speed against the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining...
four times, winning his class in 1987. He won the British Sports Car Championship in 1999.
He is a double winner of the Oulton Park Gold Cup in 2000 and 2001, joining previous winners Stirling Moss
Stirling Moss
Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss, OBE FIE is a former racing driver from England...
, Jim Clark
Jim Clark
James "Jim" Clark, Jr OBE was a British Formula One racing driver from Scotland, who won two World Championships, in 1963 and 1965....
, Jackie Stewart
Jackie Stewart
Sir John Young Stewart, OBE , better known as Jackie Stewart, and nicknamed The Flying Scotsman, is a Scottish former racing driver and team owner. He competed in Formula One between 1965 and 1973, winning three World Drivers' Championships. He also competed in Can-Am...
and many others. Tim has made sporadic albeit successful outings in the British GT Championship
British GT Championship
The Avon Tyres British GT Championship is a sports car racing series currently based in the United Kingdom, although they have had select races outside of Britain in the past few years. The series was created by the British Racing Drivers' Club in 1993 and for its first two seasons was called the...
, winning alongside various drivers in 2004 and 2005.
Harvey has also been a Touring car winner internationally, coming first in the Macau Grand Prix
Macau Grand Prix
The Macau Grand Prix is a motor-racing event held annually in Macau, one of China's Special Administrative Regions. It is known for being the only street circuit racing event in which both car and motorcycle races are held...
street race in 1989 and the Wellington International in 1994. He has successfully raced in Japan, Australia, South Africa and all over Europe.
On 19 June 2011, Tim won a Round of the Ginetta GT Supercup at Croft
Croft
Croft may refer to: * Croft, an area of land with a crofter's dwelling, used for crofting .* Bleachfield, an open space used for the bleaching of fabric, sometimes called crofts.Locations in the United Kingdom:...
.
Other work
Aside from his racing, Tim combines his commentary and presenting work for ITVITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
and Motors TV
Motors TV
Motors TV is a television channel dedicated to news, documentaries and coverage of motorsport and automobiles, and to a lesser extent motorbikes, boats, aircraft and models. It is available in many countries via satellite and cable, with audio in English, French, German and Serbian...
with various other motorsport roles, including acting as driver coach for many up and coming young British drivers. He has also coached the Oxford University Motor Drivers Club to success in the British Universities Karting Championship.
In mid 2009 there were rumours that Harvey had a falling out with the BTCC Series Director Alan Gow, after commenting live on ITV during the 2009 BTCC meeting at Brands Hatch, "Well if Alan Gow gets his way, we'll be seeing a lot more of these safety cars" (referring to the supposed lack of resources made available to voluntary BTCC track marshalls) and during the Snetterton meeting, "There is Alan Gow, the BTCC Series dictator, er director". Towards the end of the season Harvey was far more complimentary to the running of the BTCC (referring to the series attracting ex-F1 star Johnny Herbert
Johnny Herbert
John Paul Herbert is a British racing driver from England. He competed in Formula One, winning three races, and also in sports cars winning the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1991 driving a Mazda 787B...
to its ranks) indicating an improvement in relations with Gow.
In 2008, Tim was appointed Director of the British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC) SuperStars program, designed to support the most promising young British drivers both financially and in an advisory role.
He currently resides in Bicester, Oxfordshire with his wife Ruth. He has a son Jamie, who is currently working in Investment Banking with Berenberg Bank
Berenberg Bank
Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG, Berenberg Bank for short, is a German financial institution set up under the legal form of a limited partnership and based in Hamburg.- History :...
.