Liam Griffin (racing driver)

Liam Griffin (born 9 March 1973 in Barnet, Greater London) is a British racing driver and businessman. He is the son of John Griffin and was CEO of minicab company Addison Lee for 10 years before carrying out a management buyout with the private equity firm Carlyle. He is currently the Vice Chairman of Addison Lee.

Liam Griffin
Nationality British
Born (1973-03-09) 9 March 1973 (age 51)
Barnet (England)
British Touring Car Championship career
Debut season2011
Current teamAddison Lee Motorbase
Racing licence FIA Bronze
Car number66
Starts76
Wins0 (6 in class)
Poles0
Fastest laps0
Best finish21st in 2011, 2012
Previous series
200910
2008–09
Porsche Carrera Cup GB
VW Cup

He has competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice and currently races in the European Le Mans Series. He has also represented Ireland at Triathlon in the European and World Age Group Championships.

Racing career

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Early years

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Griffin started racing in 2008, competing in the VW Cup. He spent two years in the series, collecting three podiums and two race wins. In 2009 he entered two rounds of the Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain at Silverstone, driving for Motorbase Performance. He returned for a full season in 2010 for the team, driving in the Pro-Am 1 class, he finished twenty-first overall in the driver standings.

British Touring Car Championship

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Motorbase Performance (2011–13)

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Griffin driving the Airwaves Racing Ford Focus ST at Brands Hatch during the 2011 British Touring Car Championship season.

Griffin raced in the BTCC for 3 years and had a number of top 10 finishes and 1 front row grid start as a result of the reverse grid. In his final year he competed in the Jack Sears Trophy where he had 8 Class wins and finished 2nd in the Championship.

For 2011 he entered the British Touring Car Championship. Staying with Motorbase, he drove a Ford Focus ST.[1]

Griffin stayed with Motorbase in 2012, now racing under the Redstone Racing banner.[2][3] He brought out the safety car at Croft after crashing his Redstone Racing Focus into the tyre wall, causing an engine fire. Griffin pulled out of the following meeting at Snetterton in order to focus on his business commitments during the 2012 Summer Olympics.[4] He returned to the team at Silverstone[5] and participated in the final two rounds of the season. After the final round at Brands Hatch, Griffin intended to retire from the BTCC.[6]

In February 2013, Motorbase Performance announced that Griffin would race for them in the Jack Sears Trophy, driving the Super 2000 specification Ford Focus in 2013.[7] Griffin took two class victories at the season opening Brands Hatch round to lead the trophy going to the second around at Donington Park.[8]

Racing record

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Complete British Touring Car Championship results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1 point awarded in first race) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap – 1 point awarded all races) (* signifies that driver lead race for at least one lap – 1 point awarded all races)

Year Team Car 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 27 28 29 30 Pos Pts
2011 Airwaves Racing Ford Focus ST Mk.II BRH
1

Ret
BRH
2

18
BRH
3

18
DON
1

13
DON
2

Ret
DON
3

9
THR
1

14
THR
2

17
THR
3

15
OUL
1

15
OUL
2

18
OUL
3

Ret
CRO
1

18
CRO
2

Ret
CRO
3

16
SNE
1

17
SNE
2

14
SNE
3

Ret
KNO
1

Ret
KNO
2

Ret
KNO
3

16
ROC
1

16
ROC
2

16
ROC
3

19
BRH
1

16
BRH
2

19
BRH
3

15
SIL
1

15
SIL
2

14
SIL
3

13
21st 2
2012 Redstone Racing Ford Focus ST Mk.II BRH
1

14
BRH
2

12
BRH
3

11
DON
1

Ret
DON
2

Ret
DON
3

14
THR
1

Ret
THR
2

17
THR
3

12
OUL
1

Ret
OUL
2

8
OUL
3

Ret
CRO
1

14
CRO
2

14
CRO
3

Ret
SNE
1
SNE
2
SNE
3
KNO
1
KNO
2
KNO
3
ROC
1
ROC
2
ROC
3
SIL
1

Ret
SIL
2

13
SIL
3

Ret
BRH
1

19
BRH
2

13
BRH
3

14
21st 37
2013 Addison Lee Motorbase Ford Focus ST Mk.II BRH
1

17
BRH
2

11
BRH
3

15
DON
1

20
DON
2

Ret
DON
3

Ret
THR
1

20
THR
2

Ret
THR
3

Ret
OUL
1

20
OUL
2

19
OUL
3

16
CRO
1
CRO
2
CRO
3
SNE
1

Ret
SNE
2

Ret
SNE
3

Ret
KNO
1

17
KNO
2

18
KNO
3

Ret
ROC
1

Ret
ROC
2

Ret
ROC
3

DNS
SIL
1

Ret
SIL
2

Ret
SIL
3

DNS
BRH
1

19
BRH
2

Ret
BRH
3

Ret
25th 6

Complete British GT Championship results

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

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DC Points
2014 Oman Racing Team Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 GT3 OUL
1
OUL
2
ROC
1

12
SIL
1

9
SNE
1
SNE
2
SPA
1
SPA
2
BRH
1
DON
1

5
28th 18
2015 Oman Racing Team Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 GT3 OUL
1

1
OUL
2

4
ROC
1

3
SIL
1

6
SPA
1

5
BRH
1

6
SNE
1

1
SNE
2

21
DON
1

Ret
4th 123.5
2016 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán GT3 GT3 BRH
1

3
ROC
1

4
OUL
1

1
OUL
2

5
SIL
1

Ret
SPA
1

8
SNE
1

9
SNE
2

Ret
DON
1

5
5th 98.5
2017 Barwell Motorsport with GardX Lamborghini Huracán GT3 GT3 OUL
1

2
OUL
2

Ret
ROC
1

5
SNE
1

2
SNE
2

2
SIL
1

6
SPA
1

8
SPA
2

Ret
BRH
1

2
DON
1

4
5th 134

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

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Year Entrant Class Car Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Rank Points
2015 Aston Martin Racing LMGTE Am Aston Martin Vantage GTE Aston Martin 4.5 L V8 SIL SPA LMS NÜR COA FUJ
7
SHA
6
BHR 19th 14
2016 Aston Martin Racing LMGTE Am Aston Martin Vantage GTE Aston Martin 4.5 L V8 SIL SPA LMS
4
NÜR MEX COA FUJ SHA BHR 11th 24

24 Hours of Le Mans results

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Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2016   Aston Martin Racing   Gary Hirsch
  Andrew Howard
Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE GTE
Am
318 36th 7th
2018   JMW Motorsport   Cooper MacNeil
  Jeff Segal
Ferrari 488 GTE GTE
Am
332 30th 5th

Complete European Le Mans Series results

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Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rank Points
2018 JMW Motorsport LMGTE Ferrari 488 GTE Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8 LEC
1
MNZ
4
RBR
Ret
SIL
1
SPA
4‡
ALG
2
2nd 88

Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.

References

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  1. ^ "BTCC official 2011 entry list". btcc.net. British Touring Car Championship. 24 March 2011. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
  2. ^ Motorbase Performance confirm three car line-up Archived 1 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine, TouringCarTimes.
  3. ^ Mat Jackson wins red flagged first race at Thruxton Archived 26 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine, TouringCarTimes.
  4. ^ "Griffin to miss Snetterton". Crash.net. crash.net. 7 August 2012. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  5. ^ "Griffin & Wood to return". British Touring Car Championship. TOCA. 28 September 2012. Archived from the original on 21 February 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  6. ^ "David Bartrum's Blog". Motorbase Performance. 26 October 2012. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  7. ^ "Motorbase confirm Griffin's return in Jacks Sears Trophy". Motorbase Performance. Motorbase Performance. 19 February 2013. Archived from the original on 24 September 2013. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  8. ^ Turner, Kevin (31 March 2013). "Brands Hatch BTCC: Lea Wood excluded, loses S2000 class victory". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
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