Robb Gravett

Robb Gravett
Robb Gravett
Born	May 10, 1956 (age 70); London, England
Occupation(s)	Racing driver, team principal
Years active	1978–1997 (racing)
Known for	1990 British Touring Car Championship winner

Robb Gravett (born 10 May 1956) is a former British racing driver and team principal based in London. His motorsport journey began in Moto Cross, where he claimed the British championship title by age 15. Transitioning to car racing in his early twenties, Gravett started competing in automobiles in 1978 and made his debut in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) in 1987.

In 1987, he secured victory at the Willhire 24 Hour alongside teammate Graham Hathaway and took part in the Bathurst 1000 on four occasions, with his highest placement being eighth in 1989. Gravett captured the BTCC title in 1990 piloting a Ford Sierra RS500 for his own Trakstar team, which operated without significant sponsorship until late in the season.

Trakstar Motorsport

In 1989, Gravett partnered with Mike Smith to establish Trakstar Motorsport. That season, he finished second in his class behind Andy Rouse driving a Ford Sierra RS500. The following year, Gravett dominated the BTCC by winning nine races with the sole Trakstar RS500, engaging in a fierce competition against Rouse. The championship awarded points separately across two classes; Gravett’s supremacy in his class earned him the overall championship—the only driver to claim the title outright with a Sierra RS500—despite operating on a modest budget. A significant edge came from Trakstar’s employment of more resilient Yokohama tyres compared to the Dunlop tyres favored by most rivals. Additionally, Gravett competed in two rounds of the DTM during that year but did not accumulate points. Trakstar also constructed the Honda Civic for Ray Armes under the PG Tips Racing banner.

The BTCC transitioned to a single-class format in 1991. Trakstar secured backing from Ford to campaign Sierra Sapphires with sponsorship from Shell Oil and engines prepared by Mountune. However, performance was disappointing. Plans for a second car never materialized. The Sierra Sapphire debuted late and lacked pre-season testing before its first outing at Silverstone, resulting in a challenging development period. The team experimented extensively with engine configurations, gearbox setups, and even four-wheel drive systems but grappled with insufficient power and handling difficulties. Despite being Ford’s official works team, financial support was limited. Without securing a new title sponsor, Trakstar faced financial strain that led to administration by the end of the year. Ford withdrew from BTCC competition in 1992 before returning with Andy Rouse at the helm in 1993.

Later career

Gravett joined the factory-backed Peugeot squad for the 1992 and 1993 seasons. Although Peugeot found success in European touring car events, their BTCC campaign was hampered by budgetary limitations. The development of the 405 was extensive, yet Gravett came close to winning the TOCA challenge late in 1992. In 1993, he achieved second place at Brands Hatch, matching Peugeot’s best result in BTCC; this was aided by a penalty imposed on Steve Soper following a last-lap incident involving Gravett. After missing out on a drive for 1994, Gravett returned as an independent competitor in 1995.

As BTCC teams increasingly recruited international drivers, Gravett did not rejoin any works outfit. Concentrating on privateer entries, he attained a best overall finish of third at Snetterton and clinched the Total-sponsored Independent BTCC Championship in 1997 driving a Honda Accord prepared by Graham Hathaway. In his final racing year, he competed for Brookes Motorsport, finishing runner-up in the Independents' Cup and co-driving with Brookes at the Bathurst 1000; however, their car did not reach the finish line. Although Gravett contemplated returning to BTCC competition in 2014, this comeback did not come to fruition.

Presently, Gravett runs "Ultimate Car Control UK Ltd," a driver safety training organization based in Crowthorne, Berkshire, with additional centers throughout the county. He also holds a Director position at Brand Synergy, an alliance focused on safeguarding the future of the British Grand Prix.

Gravett is divorced and has a son actively involved in motorsport through participation in the BARC Sax Max Championship.

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

(key) Entries shown in bold denote pole position (1 point awarded – from 1996 for all races). Entries in italics represent fastest lap (1 point granted – 1987–1989 within class). ( indicates the driver led the feature race for at least one lap – 1 point awarded only in 1998).

... [Table continues with remaining years and results unchanged] ...

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	Overall Position	Points	Class Position
1987	Graham Hathaway Racing	Ford Sierra RS500	A	SIL	OUL	THR	THR	SIL	SIL Ret	BRH	SNE	DON	OUL	DON	SIL															NC	0	NC
1988	ICS plc	Ford Sierra RS500	A	SIL	OUL	THR Ret	DON overall:10 class:8	THR overall:15 class:11	SIL overall:2 class:2	SIL overall:5 class:5	BRH overall:11 class:8	SNE overall:2 class:2	BRH Ret	BIR C	DON	SIL														22nd	14	8th

– The race was halted due to severe rainfall. No points were allocated.

Complete European Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Entries in bold denote pole position) (Entries in italics signify fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	DC	Points
1988	Template:Country data GBR Template:Namespace detect showall Baynard Cars Ltd	Ford Sierra RS500	MNZ	DON	EST	JAR	DIJ	VAL	NÜR	SPA	ZOL	SIL 9	NOG	NC	0

Full Asia-Pacific Touring Car Championship Results

(key) (Events shown in bold denote pole position) (Events in italics represent fastest lap)

Year	Team	Vehicle	1	2	3	4	Championship Standing	Points Accumulated
1988	Template:Country data AUS Template:Namespace detect showall Shell Ultra Hi Racing	Ford Sierra RS500	BAT Retired	WEL	PUK	FJI	NC	0

Full Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft Results

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

Year	Team	Vehicle	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	Pos.	Pts
1990	AMG Motorenbau GmbH	Mercedes 190E 2.5-16 Evo2	ZOL 1	ZOL 2	HOC 1	HOC 2	NÜR 1	NÜR 2	AVU 1	AVU 2	MFA 1	MFA 2	WUN 1	WUN 2	NÜR 1	NÜR 2	NOR 1	NOR 2	DIE 1	DIE 2	NÜR 1 16	style="background:#CFCFFF;" \| NÜR 2 17	HOC 1\| HOC 2	NC	0

Full Japanese Touring Car Championship Results

( key) (Entries in bold mark pole position) (Entries in italics signify fastest lap)

Year	Team	Vehicle	Class	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Championship Standing	Points Earned
1990	Napolex Racing Team	Ford Sierra RS500	JTC-1	NIS	SUG	SUZ	TSU	SEN	FUJ Retired	NC	0

Full Bathurst 1000 Results

Year	Car Number	Team Name	Co-Driver(s)	Vehicle Model	Class Category	Completed Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1988	18	Template:Country data AUS Template:Namespace detect showall Shell Ultra Hi Racing	Template:Country data AUS Template:Namespace detect showall John Bowe Template:Country data NZL Template:Namespace detect showall Neville Crichton	Ford Sierra RS500	A	27	DNF	DNF
1989	18	Template:Country data AUS Template:Namespace detect showall Shell Ultra Hi Racing	Template:Country data GBR Template:Namespace detect showall Jeff Allam	Ford Sierra RS500	A	158	8th place overall	8th place in class
1990	40	Template:Country data NZL Template:Namespace detect showall Mark Petch Motorsport	align="left" nowrap \| Template:Country data ITA Template:Namespace detect showall Gianfranco Brancatelli	align="left" nowrap \| Ford Sierra RS500	class "1"	118 laps completed	DNF overall	DNF in class
(1998)*	29	align="left" nowrap \| Template:Flagicon GBR Brookes Motorsport	align="left" nowrap \| Template:Flagicon GBR Lee Brookes	align="left" nowrap \| Honda Accord	ST class	49 laps run	DNF	DNF

* Denotes Super Touring category event

External links