Gavin 'devastated' by retirement
| By Stuart Codling |
Sunday, June 12th 2011, 06:35 GMT |
 Oliver Gavin has paid tribute to the Corvette Racing team after his GTE Pro class-leading C6 ZR1 was eliminated from the 2011 Le Mans 24 Hours. Jan Magnussen was at the wheel of the #74 car shortly before 0800 when he lost control while lapping Christian Ried's GTE Am Porsche just before the Ford chicane. The Corvette's rear made a heavy impact with the wall and then deposited shattered bodywork across the track surface as momentum carried it back over the racing line.
"It's a shame because the team has done such a good job," Gavin told AUTOSPORT. "Since moving to the GTE car it's like something always bites us at eight o'clock in the morning.
"It was going very well, we'd controlled the race right from the first safety car, when we got a lucky break. The #51 Ferrari was our main challenger and it was very tough. I did two 2-3-hour stints and had some good battles, particularly with Joey Hand towards the end there.
"It was going to be a hard fight with the #51 Ferrari all the way to the end. I think we just about had them covered but I guess we'll never know now.
"That's the thing with Le Mans - it's hard and cruel, and that's why winning here is like nothing else in the world. I'm devastated, really."
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