Charade, France July 2003

In 2003 Oliver used all his spare time out of school to pursue his racing career. He competed in the MG car club BCV8 championship and despite missing several rounds because of exams, he achieved a class win at Snetterton, several second places and fastest lap at Donington Park. Oliver was the youngest competitor in the championship and finished second in class at the end of the season. He was awarded the Chairman’s award for “enthusiasm and commitment” at the end of the season.

Aswell as the BCV8 championship consisting of sprint races at UK circuits, Oliver also competed in several long distance races. He competed in the Gentlemen Drivers GT championship and won his class at Donington sharing the car with his father over 2 hours. In addition, he entered the MG team championship for FIA MGBs. This consisted of 3 half hour races, one at Silverstone and two in France at Charade. Against 30 similar MGBs driven by older and more experienced drivers, he qualified on pole position on all three occasions. Oliver went on to win at Silverstone in the dry and the by over 10 seconds in the wet and dry in France on the technical and difficult Charade circuit.

In September he entered his MGB into the Spa- Francorchamps 6 hour endurance race. Oliver shared the car with his father and Tom Smith. Against much faster GT cars, they qualified 40th out of 70 cars and 2nd in class. When Oliver took over at 2 hours we were 21st. During his stint he got the car up to 7th place, right behind a pack of Porsches and GT 40s. He then handed over to father Grahame who brought the car home in 9th place after 6 hours of racing. They won their class and were the first MGB home.

Oliver also raced an Aston Martin DB5. It is a fully modified 400bhp racecar, a big step up from the MGB! He got used to the car quickly and after a few races he was at the front of the pack doing quicker times than his experienced father! By the end of the 2003 season, Oliver had competed in over 40 races over the previous 2 seasons and had gained vital experience in a number or different handling cars.