“Oliver Jarvis has done it on merit”

“I have exactly the same opinion,” says United Autosports co-owner Richard Dean on the question of Oliver Jarvis being underrated. “I don’t think he gets the credit he deserves. Some of that is he’s not naturally pushy, even though he’s always been quick. He doesn’t have an ego. To have made it like he has over a long period, usually you need to self-promote. Olly has done it on merit.”

Dean has known Jarvis a long time. Like Johnny Mowlem, he raced against dad Carl in Formula Ford and even ran Olly in the junior category himself (Jarvis finished fourth at the 2003 Formula Ford Festival for Team JLR). “I was keen to get him in,” says Dean. Beyond ability, platinum-graded Jarvis has added value as a guide to the mandatory silver and bronze drivers who make up LMP2. “You need a minimum of a silver in WEC,” explains Dean, “and those silver drivers are usually early in their careers, perhaps coming from single-seaters. They need a good example and Olly is an exemplar of how you need to go about your job as a professional, just like Filipe Albuquerque. The team loves them.”

The lack of Jarvis ego is a key attribute. “When you’ve got three drivers in the car you can only have one qualify it,” says Dean. “The minute you have made a decision on who that will be the other two have to slot into their roles. Sometimes one will challenge it. You have to placate and reassure people. They might take it as an insult, but it isn’t. Insecurities come in and that’s a problem for a team manager and owner. With Olly, the minute you’ve made those decisions he slots into his role with no question. When you’ve asked him to qualify he steps up. When you’ve asked him to focus on the race set-up and for somebody else to qualify he gets his head down.”

Dean struggles to comprehend perceptions at times. “I spoke to a couple of people before I re-signed him for this year and you can tell there’s a view that because he’s not driving for Audi any more, and now he’s not driving for Acura in IMSA, that maybe his career is on a downward trajectory. But it is literally last year that he won IMSA and the role he played was huge. He’s still at his peak.”

He dismisses the age question. “In the Asian Le Mans Series earlier this year his performances, the stint averages on second-stint tyres, were super-impressive. When you ask Olly to stay on the same set of tyres for a stint, he just squeezes that bit more out of it than you think is possible. There are a few sports car drivers who fit into this bracket, but not a lot. When you’ve got all the data in front of you, but you’re not watching a TV screen or from a grandstand, it’s very hard to see when Olly is in traffic or not, because he somehow doesn’t lose time in traffic. That’s just experience. It’s invaluable. Anybody who thinks he’s past his best will be eating their words by the end of this year.”

And what about that United graduation to LMDh or Hypercar? “It’s always possible,” Dean replies. “I’d love to tell you I’ve got something tucked away in a filing cabinet, contract-wise. We’ll keep pushing. Even if we’ve missed the boat at this point there’s always a possibility in these next few years. We’re a bit like Olly: we want to challenge overall at Le Mans and in the championship.”

Might it play against United that the other co-owner is Zak Brown, given the American’s day job at McLaren? “I don’t know, it’s been in my mind,” admits Dean. “Zak is a huge benefit, his business acumen, his contacts. But I have thought on the flipside do some people assume we’ve got a deal? Or is it a conflict if it’s another manufacturer? Who knows if that has crossed someone’s mind and they have made a decision based just on that. I have no idea.”