Tim Harvey

Tim Harvey

BTCC record
Nationality	English
Teams	Rover, Ford BMW, Renault, Peugeot, JSM Team Halfords Volvo
Drivers championships	1
Wins	16
Podium finishes	-
Poles	-
Fastest laps	-
Debut season	1987
First win	1987
Best championship position	1st (1992)
Final season (2002) position	10th (43 points)

Tim Harvey (born 20 November 1961 in Farnborough, London) 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

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. 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 experience 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 experience 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.

Harvey driving a Peugeot 406 in the 1996 British Touring Car Championship season.

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 Peugeots, before quitting the series to pursue a media career.

Porsche Carrera Cup

He has raced in the Porsche Carrera Cup for several years, finishing second to Richard Westbrook in 2004 [1] 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.

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 Spice 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.

Other work

Aside from his racing, Tim combines his commentary and presenting work for ITV 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.

External links

• Tim Harvey Racing
• Tim Harvey on Twitter

Awards and achievements
Preceded by David Coulthard	Autosport National Racing Driver of the Year 1992	Succeeded by Kelvin Burt
Sporting positions
Preceded by Altfrid Heger	Guia Race winner 1989	Succeeded by Masahiro Hasemi
Preceded by Will Hoy	British Touring Car Champion 1992	Succeeded by Joachim Winkelhock
Preceded by James Sutton	Porsche Carrera Cup Champion 2008	Succeeded by Tim Bridgman
Preceded by Tim Bridgman	Porsche Carrera Cup Champion 2010	Succeeded by Incumbent