Oli Webb’s is one of those motorsport CVs that the more you delve into it the yet more remarkable it becomes.
After a relatively late start in karting Webb immediately showed uncommon talent and quickly moved to cars. He soon rose sharply up the single-seater ladder, and fought at the sharp end in a highly celebrated British Formula 3 crop. Webb got to the verge of Formula 1, in World Series Formula Renault 3.5, but hit the common obstacle of a growing budget demanded for diminishing rewards.
The Mancunian also sampled Stateside single-seater racing and similarly got to the cusp of IndyCar in its feeder Indy Lights, yet his struggle to adapt to ovals did for any hopes of progression.
But soon Webb’s sights were elsewhere, as he’d had his head turned by sportscar competition. And therein he got immediate success, taking the European Le Mans Series LMP2 crown in 2014 and getting onto Le Mans’ class podium that year, before winning 2015’s Dubai 24 Hours. His sportscar progression took him all the way to racing LMP1 machinery in the World Endurance Championship’s top bracket from 2016 to 2020.
But even that’s not the end of it with Webb. He tells us that “anything propelled” interests him, and he’s always willing to embrace driving opportunities, something he’s demonstrated by taking on rallycross in Titans RX. And Webb performed impressively in the highly unfamiliar discipline. We find out too that historic cars and events are a particular passion of his. Coaching, car development, filming and stunt driving are all on his CV as well.
As the 32-year-old makes clear too, he is far from done, with his focus firmly on returning to Le Mans and WEC’s new GT3 Pro-Am category from 2024. The Texaco-backed driver can be spotted on-track in 2023 in British GT and the Porsche 911-based 2 Litre Cup, plus he’s getting to sample singleseaters again in Rodin’s Fzed ultimate track car. He might not be done with rallycross either…
We’re grateful that Webb took time out of his busy schedule – as he was on his way to Donington Park – to answer the Motorsport News readers’ questions.
Question: Where did your passion for motorsport start?
Derek James
Via email
Oli Webb: “My passion for motorsport started when I wasn’t tall enough or big enough or old enough to go on the go karts at a little arrive-and-drive outdoor circus-style go-kart track that was set up in France. My mum’s side of the family is French and we used to go on holiday there and I was very young and my dad and my older brother were always able to go on them and I could never go on them.
“And then when I was finally tall enough and old enough to be able to sneak on a little bit early I was quite quick and to my dad’s and brother’s surprise was running rings around them on my first go and that was it, I was hooked from that point onwards. It was the first thing that I remember at a young age being good at so that part I latched onto as well.”
MN: So from that point what happened?
“Well I was still very young so I kept going back when I went on holiday to that little go-kart track and
