29.06.08 TWO PODIUMS FOR THE TITLE CHASER TURVEY Sunday, 29 June 2008: What a difference a break makes. Oliver Turvey – who returned to work last week with the declared intention of stepping up his claim to the British F3 International crown – showed he meant business at Thruxton today with a pair of podium finishes and a fastest lap. The RSF driver stormed back into title contention with two blistering qualifying performances followed by third and second places in rounds 11 and 12 of the championship. The near perfect return to action moves him up two places to third in title race, just nine points behind the current leader. As the leading British driver in the championship he also tops The Mirror.co.uk British F3 Challenge Cup. The newly-launched trophy – a Mirror initiative to promote home-grown motor racing talent - will be presented to the top British driver in the series at the end of the season. Turvey currently heads the table with 104 points, 35 clear of Max Chilton in second place. The RSF driver was back on track after completing his third year exam finals at Cambridge University, an intensive week's fitness training in Italy and a visit to the Carlin Motorsport factory to check over preparations in advance of the weekend's racing. In the first qualifying session, he missed out on pole by a mere 0.037 of a second, finishing third behind Brendon Hartley who, in turn, was pipped to P1 by Jaime Alguersuari - the three team mates providing Carlin Motorsport with a dream 1-2-3 start to the weekend. In the second Saturday session, Turvey went one better to qualify second, finishing 0.035 of a second behind Hartley, the pair presenting Carlin with a second front row lockout. But when the lights went out for the first race on Sunday, it was Turvey who got the better of his team mates, snatching the inside line to hold off Alguersuari and Hartley for the lead as the three headed side-by-side into the first corner. Turvey opened up a first lap gap on Alguersuari, with Hartley retaking third from Martin on the following lap to join battle with his Spanish team mate. By lap three he was up to second, closing the gap on Turvey whose tyres were steadily becoming a cause for concern on the hot and abrasive Thruxton surface. Three laps later the New Zealander was on Turvey's tail and seized the lead, leaving Turvey to fend off Marcus Ericsson for two laps before having to give way a second time. After that the Brit held comfortably onto third place, initially keeping Alguersuari at bay before the Spaniard dropped out of the running with a puncture, and then team mate Sam Abay. "I got a great start and managed to hold off Jaime and Brendon going into the first corner to take the lead and had really good pace for the next few laps," he said. "But then the rear tyres started to go off which obviously affected the handling and allowed Brendon and Marcus to get by me. But after that I managed to hold onto third pretty comfortably. "Naturally I'm not pleased at losing first place but it was still good to finish on the podium which was the best that was possible under the circumstances." In the following race Turvey was unable to steal the lead off the line and took up station behind Hartley. Alguersuari made a flying start making up four places to join his team mates at the front of the field – the trio holding position all the way to the chequered flag to make it an all-Carlin podium. "Again, I made another good start, almost getting alongside Brendon," said the RSF driver. "But in the end I had to slot into second. We'd made a few changes to the set up after the first race which made the car a lot better over the race distance so I was able to push him all the way. But even though I was able to get closer to him after the brief safety car period in the middle of the race, I was never able to get close enough to pass. "So overall it's been a pretty good weekend – a great result for me, for Carlin Motorsport, my race engineer Jimmy who did a brilliant job all weekend, and for the Racing Steps Foundation who are doing so much to support me." << back to news