Galvin, Mark

Does anyone have any idea what Mark Galvin (sometime Irish F3 and Le Mans driver in 1986 & 87) is doing now? If possible I'd like to try to contact him.
Also, what was his background prior to appearing in F3?

Pretty good driver. I remember him being entered in Formula ford 1600 and FF2000 and then spent a few years in F3 driving for Docking i think?

He was quite versatile even trying things like BTCC (Holden Commodore which was also run by Docking for Mike O Brien), Thundersports and even Group C?

He's still around - he's been contributing to this thread (under the user-name 'Kram'):

Sorry folks, I know it's thread related, but no links to other forums allowed

Worth reading just for his anecdotes!


Paul M

Thanks guys! Exactly what I was looking for.

He seems to be living in Canada, according to his posts on FerrariChat.

Its funny I was just thinking the same thing myself the other day, where did he end up. Well, we don't really know from his thread... but its a fabulous insight into his career and behind the scenes at Le Mans in the 1980s.

Was'nt he an investment broker in the city at that time? Loaded for sure!

Alan Docking made a few bob out of him for sure! Remember he ran the Le Mans Mazdas at that time too. He ran an Argo in FF2000 before F3. Reminds me a bit of Mark Shaw ten yers later - quick on occasion but basically a rich boy enjoying being a race driver.

... Was he ? or was that Warren Carway ?

Im sure he was a city boy, investments and the like.

Mark raced in Ireland before heading to the UK , his family had mining interests in Australia ,Mark worked as I recall in the family business . When racing in IRELAND he used plain overalls no name patch , and towed his Royale with a Toyota landcruiser , no fancy trucks for him .When he won C2 at Le Mans he was delighted , I was standing on the balcony (pits) overlooking the paddock , he was walking through the paddock , hailed to me and came up to chat , very excited that he had won his class , a lifelong ambition realised . I think Mark was in the sport for fun not to make a carrear , I must check if he is still in Dublin , havent seen him in years .

Some great posts on that Ferrari forum by Mark Galvin, he certainly sounds a well balanced individual! Mondello, was'nt intoning he was'nt serious about his racing, he seems to have approached it in a humble manner. Just that money didnt seem the issue it did for so many other in those days. Anyway read the Ferrari forum, its a long thread but superb - although that stuff about Roland Linder is just as engaging a read.

Didn't he have a brief stab at F3k? A DNQ or something? Guess that was a "just-in-case" try...to prevent him thinking "if only I'd've had a go"...

Yeah I think he had a go at the 86 or 87 Le Mans F3000 round for CBR. Now I come to think of it Im sure it was 86. Wonder what happened to his erstwhile F3 team mate Giles Butterfield, A former superkart racer who seemd to go straight into Class B F3 (was that allowed from gearbox karting??) and dominate, he then got Warmastyle Racing for Britain money for 86 and did absolutely nothing. He then tried to resurrect the Saab f3 engine, then later his GB engineering concern ran their own VW F3 programme, when the Mugens had taken over. I can remember the team I worked for buying an engine from them, I think Keith Greene was there at the time, something tells me they were bidding to run Renault Touring Cars, which they did win and run for a season or two. After that ,nada...

I’m amazed! The memories you guys have! When I get up in the morning I don’t know who I am (and I certainly don’t recognise the old guy I’m shaving in the mirror). But I am alive, boots up on a desk, raising children and very happy.

I’ve never been an investment broker, though I did once sell ice-cream off an O’Boyle’s truck in Bristol, Pennsylvania, which, I hear tell, uses the same skill set. Mondello Man (I remember you!) has just about covered it.

And Ensign14, you are quite correct. I did have a swing at the F3000 bat in ‘86. It was the usual story, what with a great test at Snetterton, people flinging flowers in the air and general Maypole dancing it went so well, then during qualifying in France the car wouldn’t pull itself out of bed. It turned out to be a bad can of French petrol had blocked the fuel filter, which in turn acted like a rev limiter on the engine. It made me ask myself if not qualifying a F3000 at the Bugatti circuit was more fun than racing a F3 at Brands or Monza. You can guess what the answer was.......

Thanks for asking and I hope you are all also thriving,

Mark

Mark , welcome. I've been up since 5am because of work, thats my excuse for being alert. Be nice to hear some more of your stories when you have time. Bit worried about your test recollections of Snett though, sounds more like the Isle of White circa 1970 !!

Welcome indeed, Mark. I'm with ghinzani; let's hear some stories!

It's great when someone posts 'What happened to .... ' and the person concerned pops up to tell us!

Shorehill Investments !!! Thats what made me think of Investment banking! Or was I confusing Mark with Paul "is that the green light or red" Stott... I also recall what I believe was your last F3 race at Thruxton at the end of 87. That wasnt a half bad race as I recall, didnt Herbert get knocked off and then storm back from last to third? If its the one I am thinking about he was absolutely mega on the brakes into the chicane, and a trick Spiess engine doesnt afford you that sort of advantage! Mark had a good run too I think, was'nt it a red Reynard that you had?

Giles works/run Bedford Autodrome & FPA for Palmer.

Mark Galvin must surely be congratulated for him attempt to carry Cathy Muller thro' a Donnington gravel trap - having made an attempt to mount her 5 secs earlier....no mean feat. I would have thought a piggy back rather than a firemans lift would have been more successful..

Worryingly that was 20 years ago. . . .

Mega to have you on board 10-10ths Mark and great to see that you've not lost the Irish art of raconteuring. I always followed your efforts in the UK through the 1980s, albeit from a distance through the pages of Autosport, as you were one of the only guys from the Republic active at international level around then. Hope you're keeping well and doing well and great to have you here.

Welcome, Mark,

How great to have you posting here, a day after I posted the question!
The power of the 'net' !

well Mark you rememberme , I met Patrick Moore a few months ago , I think he would have great difficulty getting into an RP24 today , he is now a heavy weight .

Mr Galvin, i recall you having some plain green overalls i think?

Not sure about the category you were in at the time (have a feeling it was a an plain Red F3 Ralt RT3 or RT30 you were next to?) but I remember getting your autograph, which you seemed quite surprised about at an August Oulton meeting in '85!!

You may have been talking to Cathy Muller or someone like that?!

A driver of that period, Irish again I think, was Robert Lee Lewis (??). OTOH he did F3000 in 87, with a Colin Bennett March. I was surprised at the time, 'cos I'd hardly heard of him. He seemed to have good backing from a Tech Company, was it Brother or something ? He didn't do very well IIRC, and then disappeared.

Anyone else remember him ?

Lee-Lewis was Welsh. I understand he had quite a bit of talent but his sponsor insisted he go straight from FF2k to F3k and the leap was too much.

Ensigns correct although I thought it was FF1600 (regional and/or historic at that) to F3000. Brother was the sponsor, think they had got rid of him by the end of the season although I recall hearing him mentioned with a drive in 88 but nothing came of it. Shame 'cos Brother wanted to take him up to F1 as I recall.

Mr Galvin, i recall you having some plain green overalls i think?

Not sure about the category you were in at the time (have a feeling it was a an plain Red F3 Ralt RT3 or RT30 you were next to?) but I remember getting your autograph, which you seemed quite surprised about at an August Oulton meeting in '85!!

You may have been talking to Cathy Muller or someone like that?!

I remember it now, and why I was quite surprised......


“Can I have your autograph?”

“Sure! What would you like me to write?”

“How about ‘Best wishes, Frank Sanatra’”?

“Frank Sanatra???” You got to be kidding! The Mafia won’t let him use a ball point. How about Oliver Reed, he’s so bombed he can’t write. No one knows what his signature looks like. I can do one that’ll fill the whole page.”

“No, Frank Sanatra.”

“I’ll give you an Albert Finchley.”

“Who’s he?”

“My bank manager. Why do you think I’m so good at his signature?”

“Thanks, but I think I’ll go ride a bicycle in the rain.”

And that was the last time we met.....

Yes, it was a Ralt RT30, and I had green overalls (a horrible shade), and as for Cathy Muller, perhaps she was just yelling at me to get out of her way, starting with the paddock. She was a touch agressive at the time.

:rotate:

Lee-Lewis was Welsh. I understand he had quite a bit of talent but his sponsor insisted he go straight from FF2k to F3k and the leap was too much.

I knew the Welsh Robert Lee Lewis casually, come to think of it I once sorted him out with an engine in FF1600 (mine) and gave him bits of bad advice from time to time.
I was testing an F3 at Silverstone the day he went to shake down his F3000, so I wandered over to have a chat. His car was very tired and the whole effort looked sort of low budget. I remember seeing the dark gray of fretting around some rivet heads, an indication that the monocoque was more like a rubber band than a true car component. The mechanics may have been hired from Colin B. but it wasn't one of his cars - thery were always spotless. Robert was a bit out of his depth too, having gone straight into it from a much lower category, and at Silverstone to boot, a circuit as topographically disparate from Mondello as you can get. Making such a leap can be okay - if you share the test with another driver, but like so many of us he was going to set the world on fire all alone. The car never ran properly and he sort of disappeared after that. I think his father, who always wore an enormous white hat and had made a bit of cash by starting and selling a reinsurance idea, was in fact his main sponsor.

Nice one Mark, so the amazing Brother sponsorship deal was mostly hot air then. Unlike but also like Steve Kemptons Worldwide Dryer sponsorship (they did the hand-dryers you see in public loo's)!! That March he was driving should have been brand new btw, unless he was getting his eye in using CBR's old 86B that Tim Davies had used at Birmingham the year before.

Robert Lee Lewis , was hot in Irish FF1600 , I think he failed to qualify all year ( may be wrong on this) . His father was the force behind him and the story goes he went to see EJ about a drive in F3 for the young master .EJ had a lot on that day , and having listened to how Robert was going to win all , he called halt and said , " come back when you have the budget ""direct and to the point .

I am reading this thread with an increasing sense of depression. Why can I remember distinctly guys who failed to qualify in F3000 races but can't remember what the heck I did this morning? Ah, Enrico Debenedetti and Nino Fama, we remember ye well...

Hello mister Mark

I remember you on the LE MANS track in 1985-86-87 at the wheel of a SPICE (85) and japanese MAZDA cars (86-87) but you start in 1984 with a DOME.

You win 2 times the victory group 1985 (C2) 1987 (IMSA)

I've got some photos of your cars about 1986 and 1987.

So, I have a personnal project about the drivers of LE MANS race : a drivers dictionary.

If you go to this link you can see that my work is not very easy : http://www.ten-tenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=89914

About you I need your birth place , your portrait , an autograph and a short story about your racing career.

You can answer here or if you prefer in MP.

Thanks a lot and scuse me for my poor english (I'm a froogy :laugh:)

hi. mark. yhanks form your advice with the argo jm14, we won the champioship with it last year with one round to go. having won it three times in the van diemen rf83, to get the argo to the front was very satisfying.. cheers.