Oliver Turvey Q&A

Carlin’s Oliver Turvey took the championship lead in the British F3 International Series this weekend, with two fantastic wins at the Silverstone circuit in Northamptonshire. Here, the 21 year-old Racing Steps Foundation driver talks about the level of competition in this year’s championship, but despite a nine point lead in the standings, refuses to talk about winning the F3 title in his rookie season…..

Can you talk us through your races at Silverstone?
The races at Silverstone were fantastic. I didn’t get a great start in the first race, we changed the clutch on Friday and the biting point was different to what I had been used to, so I was quite slow away from the line. I lost the lead to Brendon [Hartley], but fortunately I was able to hold onto second. From then on I tried to put pressure on Brendon, I knew I had better race pace as he was very quick at the start, but not over long runs. He had a great race but made a small mistake at Copse and I was able to get alongside him into Becketts and get through. It was good race and fantastic for me to win.

In the second race, I had a great start; I got it really hooked up. Brendon seemed to have a problem off the line and I got into Copse in the lead and from there I just felt confident and able to control the race. I didn’t want to make any mistakes, I was a bit surprised by [Marcus] Ericsson’s pace as he was a bit quicker than he had been in the first race, but I was able to keep a safe gap from him.

2008 is turning out to be one of the most competitive seasons in British F3 for a long time. Did you think a few races ago that you could ever be heading the championship with two rounds to go?
I’ve always had the belief in myself and I’ve been working really hard over the summer. Since I finished my exams at Cambridge I’ve been able to focus fully on my racing and I think that’s actually made a big difference. My engineer Jimmy and I have worked really hard and I think we’ve got the car where we want it now. We’ve got a base set-up that I really like, I like the way its handling and I think it shows; at Spa we were quick in every session and it’s been the same at Silverstone.

You mentioned that you are working well with your engineer, how important is that relationship?
It’s very important. The relationship between the engineer and the driver is the single most important one within the team. It’s inevitably a relationship that changes and gets stronger as the season goes on. I think Jimmy understands me better now than at the start of the season and vice versa. We’ve made really good steps throughout the season with the car and now the car is where we want it. In Spa we made a really good decision on the set-up and it seemed to work at Silverstone as well. Hopefully we can keep this strong pace and be at the front for the last few races.

How much does it mean to you in your rookie year and to the Racing Steps Foundation in their first year in racing to be at such as strong position with just two rounds to go?
It’s fantastic. To be leading the championship with only four rounds to go is great for myself and Carlin. It’s a great achievement for the Racing Steps Foundation, they are the ones that have allowed me to compete in British F3 this year, without the support of the RSF I don’t think I would have had the budget to step up to Formula 3, never mind to race with a top F3 team such as Carlin. It’s been great to be at the front of the championship in my first year.

Bucharest will be a new experience for all but the second year F3 drivers. Do you think your lack of knowledge of the circuit is going to be a disadvantage?
I’m really excited about Bucharest, I’ve never done a street race before so I’m really looking forward to it. I think we’re going to be strong there, obviously the drivers that raced there last year will have a bit of an advantage initially, but I think we should be able to get on the pace pretty quickly. I think Carlin will do a good job with the car there, the team have been strong all year and they won at Bucharest last year, so should have some good data. I think we can challenge for the wins there as well, so I’m looking forward to it.

The top two championship contenders haven’t been separated by more than four points since Rockingham, but you managed to pull out a bit of a gap at Silverstone. Who do you see as your main title challenger now?
I’m leading the championship by nine points now, but that doesn’t mean anything yet, and I want to focus on things race by race - I don’t want to think about the championship. I’m just going to go to Bucharest and try and do the same as we did at Silverstone; focus on each session as they come and try and be at the front. There are some fantastic drivers in the championship and I think that’s why it’s so close this year and no doubt there will four or five drivers capable of winning in Bucharest. There are a lot of talented drivers, but I’d say Jaime, Sergio and Brendon are my nearest challengers, so I’ll be aiming to stay ahead of them next weekend in Bucharest.

Published: 2008-08-18 00:00:00

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1	Craig Baird	32
2	Graham Carroll	21
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4	Jack Lemvard	19
5	Frédéric Vervisch	18
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8	Jan Magnussen	16
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12	Jamie Whincup	15
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16	Wayne Boyd	14
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This list also includes series that span over the new year (i.e. 2007-08 championships).

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