Peter Charles Lovett (born 6 March 1950) is a retired British racing driver and businessman. He is perhaps best known for his racing exploits in the TWR run Rover SD1 in the early 1980s.
| Pete Lovett | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  British |
| Born | 6 March 1950 |
| British Saloon Car Championship | |
| Years active | 1977–1978, 1980–1984, 1986 |
| Teams | Martin Thomas Dick Lovett Specialist Cars Tom Walkinshaw Racing Hughes of Beaconsfield |
| Starts | 42 |
| Wins | 8 (1 in class) |
| Poles | 5 |
| Fastest laps | 4 |
| Best finish | 6th in 1981 |
| Championship titles | |
| 1981 | British Saloon Car Championship - Class D |
Racing career
editLovett's debut in racing was in 1976 driving a Porsche, and then contested sportscar endurance events.[1] He competed five times at the Le Mans 24 Hour between 1978 and 1982, but failed to finish any of the events due to mechanical difficulties.[2]
Lovett made the switch to saloon car racing and made his debut in the British Touring Car Championship driving a Triumph Dolomite, before being picked up by the factory Austin Rover team. The Rover SD1 was the class of the field and Lovett took several wins between 1981 and 84, winning his class in 1981, and then finishing runner up in class to his team mate Jeff Allam in 1982. In 1983 he was in contention for the title alongside his team mates Allam and Steve Soper. Soper just pipped him to the championship, but then the Rover team was disqualified from the results for technical infringements. As well as racing in Britain Lovett drove for TWR in Europe, driving in the ETCC and also contesting the Spa 24 Hours race alongside his regular team mates.[3]
Lovett made his final appearance in the BTCC in 1986 before retiring from motorsport to concentrate solely on his business interests.[4]
Later career
editLovett's father founded his first car dealership in 1966. When he retired, Peter became chairman of Dick Lovett Cars, and owns a string of car dealerships across the south of England, catering for marques such as Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin, Jaguar Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz and BMW.[5]
Racing record
editComplete British Saloon Car Championship results
edit(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 | 11 | 12 | DC | Pts | Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Martin Thomas | Triumph Dolomite Sprint | C | SIL | BRH | OUL | THR | SIL | THR | DON | SIL | DON | BRH | THR | BRH ? |
NC | 0 | NC |
| 1978 | Dick Lovett Specialist Cars | Triumph Dolomite Sprint | C | SIL 7 |
OUL | THR ? |
BRH 8† |
SIL ?† |
DON ?† |
MAL | BRH 10 |
DON | BRH | THR | OUL 8† |
11th | 30 | 3rd |
| 1980 | TWR Pentax | Mazda RX-7 | C | MAL | OUL | THR | SIL | SIL< | BRH | MAL | BRH 8 |
THR 8 |
SIL 9 |
19th | 16 | 4th | ||
| 1981 | TWR - Daily Express | Rover 3500S | D | MAL 5† |
SIL | OUL | THR | BRH 4† |
SIL 1 |
SIL 1 |
DON 2† |
BRH 3 |
THR 3 |
SIL 2 |
6th | 52 | 1st | |
| 1982 | Team Sanyo Racing with Esso | Rover 3500S | D | SIL | MAL | OUL | THR | THR 7 |
SIL 9 |
DON 4 |
BRH 1 |
DON 5 |
BRH 10 |
SIL 1 |
16th | 27 | 5th | |
| 1983 | Team Sanyo Racing with Esso | Rover Vitesse | A | SIL 3 |
OUL 2 |
THR 1 |
BRH Ret |
THR 1 |
SIL 2 |
DON 1 |
SIL 2 |
DON Ret |
BRH 1 |
SIL 4 |
DSQ | 63 | DSQ | |
| 1984 | Team Sanyo Racing with Esso | Rover Vitesse | A | DON 4 |
SIL 2 |
OUL 3 |
THR 3 |
THR | SIL | SNE | BRH | BRH | DON | SIL | NC | 0 | NC | |
| 1986 | Hughes of Beaconsfield | Toyota Celica Supra | A | SIL 4 |
THR | SIL | DON | BRH | SNE | BRH | DON | SIL | 27th | 3 | 11th | |||
Source:[6]
| ||||||||||||||||||
† Events with 2 races staged for the different classes.
References
edit- ^ "Pete Lovett (GB)'s cars - Photo Gallery". Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
- ^ "Driver Peter Lovett Career Statistics". Racing-Reference.info. 6 March 1950. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
- ^ Adams, Keith (5 August 2011). "Rover SD1 in motor sport". AROnline. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
- ^ "History". Dick Lovett. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
- ^ "About Us". Dick Lovett. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
- ^ de Jong, Frank. "British Saloon Car Championship". History of Touring Car Racing 1952-1993. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
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