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Tim Harvey

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Tim Harvey
NationalityUnited Kingdom British
Born (1961-11-20) 20 November 1961 (age 62)
Farnborough, London, England
Racing licence FIA Bronze
BTCC record
TeamsRover (1987)
Ford (19881990)
BMW (19911992)
Renault (19931994)
Volvo (1995)
Peugeot (19961998, 2002)
Alfa Romeo (2001)
Drivers'
championships
1 (1992)
Wins16
Podium finishes48
Poles3
Fastest laps6
Debut season1987
First win1987
Best championship position1st (1992)
Final season (2002) position10th (43 points)

Timothy James Harvey (born 20 November 1961) is a British racing driver, best known for being the 1992 British Touring Car Champion,[1] and the 2008 and 2010 Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain champion.[2][3] A household name in the 1990s, Harvey won sixteen races in the British Touring Car Championship between 1987 and 1995, and competed in the series until 2002. He was also the winner of the invitational Guia Race of Macau touring car event, in 1989.[4]

After leaving touring car racing, Harvey moved into the one-make Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain series; after two guest drives in 2003, including one victory, Harvey competed full-time from the 2004 season onwards. In seven full seasons in the championship, Harvey finished in the top four of the final championship standings in each season, and left the series after a class victory in the Porsche Carrera World Cup meeting at the Nürburgring,[5] with a series record of 35 overall victories.[6] Along with media commitments for television broadcaster ITV4, and their coverage of the British Touring Car Championship, Harvey currently competes in the British GT Championship; sharing a Porsche with Jon Minshaw, for the Trackspeed team.[7]

BTCC career

[edit]

Born in Farnborough, London, Harvey first raced in the BTCC in 1987, taking three Class A wins in a Rover Vitesse[8] In 1988 and 1989 he dovetailed sports car racing with BTCC outings, before finishing third in Class A in 1989 and 1990.

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

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.[9] 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, signing 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 Peugeots, before quitting the series to pursue a media career). The Alfa Romeo 147 that Tim Harvey raced is now owned by Allitalia – an Independent Italian Auto Specialist based in North Wales.

Porsche Carrera Cup

[edit]

He has raced in the Porsche Carrera Cup for several years, finishing second to Richard Westbrook in 2004[10] 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 21 September at Brands Hatch.[11] 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[12] and a double win at Snetterton.[13] 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).[14] Harvey's two wins at Croft on 20 June saw him become the most successful driver in the history of the championship,[15] 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.[16][17] He explained during the ITV4 coverage of the Oulton Park BTCC round on 5 June 2011 that he was not 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[18] 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

[edit]

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[citation needed]. 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.

Tim also competes occasionally in enduro events on a motorcycle.

Other work

[edit]

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.[citation needed]

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.[citation needed]

In 2021 he appeared at a event in his hometown at Motorsport UK's new HQ to talk with Jason Plato, Matt Neal and the former's Fuelling Around co-host Dave Vitty.[19]

Racing record

[edit]

Complete European Touring Car Championship results

[edit]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 DC Pts
1984 United Kingdom Computervision Racing with Esso MG Metro Turbo MNZ VAL DON PER BRN ZEL SAL NUR SPA SIL
Ret
ZOL MUG NC 0
1988 United Kingdom John Maguire Racing BMW M3 MNZ DON EST JAR DIJ VAL NÜR SPA ZOL SIL
Ret
NOG NC 0

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

[edit]

(key) Races in bold indicate pole position (1 point awarded all races 1996 onwards) Races in italics indicate fastest lap (1 point awarded – 1987–1990, 2001 onwards, 1987–1990 in class) (* signifies that driver lead feature race for at least one lap – 1 point awarded 1998 onwards)

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Pen. Overall
DC
Pts Class
1987 John Maguire Racing Rover Vitesse A SIL
Ret
OUL
1
THR
Ret
THR
2
SIL
1
SIL
5
BRH
1
SNE
Ret
DON
Ret
OUL
NC
DON
4
SIL
3
4th 45 1st
1988 Terry Drury Racing Ford Sierra RS500 A SIL
Ret
OUL
4
THR
9
THR
5
SIL
6
SIL
7
BRH
Ret
SNE
7
BRH
2
BIR
C
DON
Ret
SIL
2
11th 26 4th
CAM Shipping DON
2‡
1989 Labatt's Team Ford Sierra RS500 A OUL
2
SIL
16
THR
1
DON
3
THR
2
SIL
2
SIL
4
BRH
Ret
SNE
3
BRH BIR
2
DON
1
SIL
2
7th 56 3rd
1990 Labatt's Team Ford Sierra RS500 A OUL
4
DON
Ret
THR
2
SIL
Ret
OUL
3
SIL
3
BRH
2
SNE
2
BRH
3
BIR
4
DON
3
THR
2
SIL
15
4th 132 3rd
1991 BMW Team Labatt's BMW M3 SIL
10
SNE
7
DON
DSQ
THR
4
SIL
71
BRH
4
SIL
3
DON
1

Ret
DON
2

6
OUL
7
BRH
1

Ret
BRH
2

5
DON
2
THR
Ret
SIL
1
8th 42
1992 M Team Shell Racing BMW 318is SIL
8
THR
8
OUL
4
SNE
Ret
BRH
6
DON
1

4
DON
2

1
SIL
4
KNO
1

2
KNO
2

1
PEM
1
BRH
1

1
BRH
2

1
DON
1
SIL
4
1st 152
1993 Renault Dealer Racing Renault 19 SIL
11
DON
1
SNE
Ret
DON
16
OUL
Ret
BRH
1

11
BRH
2

8
PEM
Ret
SIL
Ret
KNO
1
KNO
2
OUL
Ret
BRH
14
THR
16
DON
1

3
DON
2

Ret
SIL
15
14th 31
1994 Renault Dealer Racing Renault Laguna THR
10
BRH
1

Ret
BRH
2

DNS
SNE
Ret
SIL
1

Ret
SIL
2

8
OUL
Ret
DON
1

9
DON
2

10
BRH
1

Ret
BRH
2

11
SIL
4
KNO
1

DSQ
KNO
2

4
OUL
6
BRH
1

4
BRH
2

Ret
SIL
1

1
SIL
2

18
DON
1

5
DON
2

8
9th 77
1995 Volvo 850 Racing Volvo 850 20v DON
1

8
DON
2

3
BRH
1

1
BRH
2

1
THR
1

15
THR
2

7
SIL
1

7
SIL
2

3
OUL
1

8
OUL
2

15
BRH
1

3
BRH
2

5
DON
1

10
DON
2

12
SIL
Ret
KNO
1

2
KNO
2

3
BRH
1

7
BRH
2

7
SNE
1

Ret
SNE
2

2
OUL
1

Ret
OUL
2

5
SIL
1

10
SIL
2

7
5th 176
1996 Total Team Peugeot Peugeot 406 DON
1

11
DON
2

9
BRH
1

Ret
BRH
2

9
THR
1

Ret
THR
2

Ret
SIL
1

13
SIL
2

Ret
OUL
1

Ret
OUL
2

8
SNE
1

4
SNE
2

Ret
BRH
1

Ret
BRH
2

9
SIL
1

Ret
SIL
2

13
KNO
1

Ret
KNO
2

Ret
OUL
1

Ret
OUL
2

Ret
THR
1

Ret
THR
2

12
DON
1

10
DON
2

14
BRH
1

13
BRH
2

9
15th 20
1997 Esso Ultron Team Peugeot Peugeot 406 DON
1

10
DON
2

Ret
SIL
1

11
SIL
2

4
THR
1

9
THR
2

2
BRH
1

Ret
BRH
2

10
OUL
1

Ret
OUL
2

8
DON
1

7
DON
2

2
CRO
1

10
CRO
2

7
KNO
1

14
KNO
2

9
SNE
1

8
SNE
2

15
THR
1

6
THR
2

13
BRH
1

5
BRH
2

9
SIL
1

13
SIL
2

Ret
9th 66
1998 Esso Ultron Team Peugeot Peugeot 406 THR
1

13
THR
2

Ret
SIL
1

11
SIL
2

18
DON
1

9
DON
2

11
BRH
1

Ret
BRH
2

11
OUL
1

Ret
OUL
2

Ret
DON
1

Ret
DON
2

Ret
CRO
1

16
CRO
2

18
SNE
1

12
SNE
2

Ret
THR
1

15
THR
2

9*
KNO
1

15
KNO
2

11
BRH
1

14
BRH
2

8*
OUL
1

14
OUL
2

10
SIL
1

Ret
SIL
2

Ret
17th 10
2001 JS Motorsport Alfa Romeo 147 BRH
1
BRH
2
THR
1
THR
2
OUL
1

17
OUL
2

3*
SIL
1

DNS
SIL
2

Ret
MON
1
MON
2
DON
1

DNS
DON
2

DNS
KNO
1
KNO
2
SNE
1

DNS
SNE
2

DNS
CRO
1

Ret
CRO
2

Ret
OUL
1

8
OUL
2

5
SIL
1

16
SIL
2

Ret
DON
1

13
DON
2

Ret
BRH
1

7
BRH
2

Ret
8th 43
2002 Team Halfords Peugeot 406 Coupé BRH
1

Ret
BRH
2

7*
OUL
1

Ret
OUL
2

6
THR
1

5
THR
2

4*
SIL
1

Ret
SIL
2

5
MON
1

7
MON
2

DSQ
CRO
1

Ret
CRO
2

Ret
SNE
1

Ret
SNE
2

DNS
KNO
1

11
KNO
2

9
BRH
1

6
BRH
2

3
DON
1

Ret
DON
2

Ret*
−5 11th 43
  1. ^  – Race was stopped due to heavy rain. No points were awarded.

‡ Endurance driver

Complete World Touring Car Championship results

[edit]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 DC Pts
1987 United Kingdom Team Istel Rover Vitesse MNZ JAR DIJ NÜR SPA BNO SIL
Ret
BAT CLD WEL FJI NC 0

Complete Japanese Touring Car Championship results

[edit]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 DC Pts
1994 Motorola Pagers Racing BMW 318i AUT
1
AUT
2
SUG
1
SUG
2
TOK
1
TOK
2
SUZ
1
SUZ
2
MIN
1
MIN
2
AID
1
AID
2
TSU
1
TSU
2
SEN
1
SEN
2
FUJ
1

17
FUJ
2

16
NC 0

Complete Asia-Pacific Touring Car Championship results

[edit]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 DC Points
1994 Japan Motorola Pagers Racing BMW 318i FUJ
1

17
FUJ
2

16
MAC
1

4
MAC
2

5
SEN
1

C
SEN
2

C
WEL
1

2
WEL
2

1
CLD
1

C
CLD
2

C
CHE
1

C
CHE
2

C
2nd ?

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

[edit]
Year Team Co-driver Car Laps Pos.
1997* United Kingdom Esso Ultron Team Peugeot New Zealand Paul Radisich Peugeot 406 70 DNF
1998* United Kingdom Volvo S40 Racing Sweden Jan Nilsson Volvo S40 82 DNF

* Super Touring race

Le Mans 24 hours results

[edit]
Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1988 United Kingdom Charles Ivey Racing
United Kingdom Team Istel
United Kingdom Chris Hodgetts
United Kingdom John Sheldon
Tiga GC287 C2 301 20th 3rd
1989 United Kingdom Spice Engineering Denmark Thorkild Thyrring
South Africa Wayne Taylor
Spice SE89C-Ford C1 150 DNF DNF
1990 United Kingdom Spice Engineering Spain Fermín Velez
United Kingdom Chris Hodgetts
Spice SE90C - Ford Gr.C1 308 18th 18th
1991 Netherlands Euro Racing Netherlands Charles Zwolsman
Netherlands Cor Euser
Spice SE90C-Ford Cosworth C1 72 DNF DNF

Complete British GT results

[edit]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position in class) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap in class)

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Pos Pts
2000 Bob Watson Motorsport Porsche 911 GT2 GT THR
1
CRO
1
OUL
1

1
DON
1

8†
SIL
1

Ret
BRH
1

WD
DON
1

Ret
CRO
1

2
9th 56
HKM Parr Motorsport Chrysler Viper GTS-R SIL
1

5
SNE
1

2
SPA
1

DNS
SIL
1

5
2001 Hayles Racing Chrysler Viper GTS-R GT SIL
1

2
SNE
1

1
DON
1

2
OUL
1

1
CRO
1

3
ROC
1

2
CAS
1

DSQ
BRH
1

Ret
DON
1

3
KNO
1

1
THR
1

2
BRH
1

1
SIL
1

3
2nd ?
2005 Motorbase Performance Porsche 996 GT3 Cup GT3 DON
1

MAG
1

CRO
1

CRO
2

KNO
1

KNO
2

THR
1

9
THR
2

10
CAS
1

CAS
2

SIL
1

MON
1

MON
2

? 14
Team RPM GT3 INV SIL
1

25
SIL
2

7
-† 0†
2007 Team RPM Viper Competition Coupe GT3 OUL
1
OUL
2
DON
1
DON
2
SNE BRH
1
BRH
2
SIL THR
1

18
THR
2

5
CRO
1
CRO
2
ROC
1
ROC
2
24th 4
2008 Trackspeed Porsche 997 GT3-S GT3 OUL
1
OUL
2
KNO
1
KNO
2
ROC
1

9
ROC
2

7
SNE
1
SNE
2
THR
1
THR
2
BRH
1
BRH
2
SIL DON 47th 2
2012 Trackspeed Porsche 997 GT3-R GT3 OUL
1

10
OUL
2

3
NÜR
1

8
NÜR
2

12
ROC
6
BRH
9
SNE
1

7
SNE
2

2
SIL
11
DON
Ret
11th 59

† Not eligible for points as invitation driver.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Meissner, Johan (17 February 2007). "History: BTCC 1992 – A controversial ending". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Archived from the original on 22 March 2007. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  2. ^ "Harvey lifts Carrera crown". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 24 September 2008. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  3. ^ Pettit, Vince (9 October 2010). "First Win For Jelley As Harvey Claims Title". The Checkered Flag. BlackEagleMedia Network. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  4. ^ Kitchell, Norideen (16 November 1994). "Harvey primed for tour of duty". South China Morning Post. SCMP Group. Retrieved 21 November 2012. Harvey, the 1989 Macau winner who turns 33 on race day, and fellow-Briton Justin Bell will be driving BMW 318is under the Motorola Pagers Racing Team banner.
  5. ^ "Harvey masters Nürburgring in Porsche Carrera Cup GB". Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain. Porsche UK. 27 June 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  6. ^ Paice, Simon (31 May 2011). "Harvey Leaves Porsche Carrera Cup". The Checkered Flag. BlackEagleMedia Network. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  7. ^ Broomhead, James (11 January 2012). "Tim Harvey and Jon Minshaw Join Trackspeed for 2012 British GT Season". The Checkered Flag. BlackEagleMedia Network. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  8. ^ Tim Harvey Archived 27 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Tim Harvey : Page 2 Archived 9 January 2003 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ "BTCC Pages - Porsche Carrera Cup GB 2006". Archived from the original on 7 October 2006.
  11. ^ Tim Harvey takes Porsche Carrera Cup title at Brands
  12. ^ Caine and Harvey take Thruxton Honours Archived 11 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ Harvey takes Porsche Carrera Cup double at Snetterton
  14. ^ Porsche Standings and Results
  15. ^ Harvey sets new win record in Carrera Cup GB
  16. ^ Harvey Leaves Porsche Carrera Cup
  17. ^ Harvey Leaves Porsche Carrera Cup GB
  18. ^ Harvey wins at Nürburgring
  19. ^ "Relive top night as Fuelling Around podcast makes live debut". 21 October 2021.
[edit]
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Autosport
National Racing Driver of the Year

1992
Succeeded by
Sporting positions
Preceded by Guia Race winner
1989
Succeeded by
Preceded by British Touring Car Champion
1992
Succeeded by
Preceded by Porsche Carrera Cup UK Champion
2008
Succeeded by
Preceded by Porsche Carrera Cup UK Champion
2010
Succeeded by