The Young Drivers: No.9 - Oliver Jarvis

Where were they then?

Jarvis came to the fore in his second year of Formula Renault at the age of 21, clinching the title in the season finale. This is what Autosport magazine wrote about him at the time...

Oliver Jarvis could barely have wished for the success that 2005 has brought him. He's gone from being largely unknown at the beginning of the year to Formula Renault UK champion, BRDC Rising Star, and now McLaren Autosport BRDC Award winner in just nine months. The Award caps off what has been a dream season for the 21-year-old from Burwell, Cambridgeshire as he turned himself into a winner, a champion, and one of the brightest lights in British motorsport.

Looking back, it was on the cards from the outset. He elevated himself almost beyond reach of his FRenault rivals in the first half of the season with four wins and three second places from the first seven races. From then on, it was just a matter of bringing it home later in the year, where he chalked up another win - his best drive of the season - in front of the World Series by Renault fraternity at Donington Park.

But even he could not have expected to have been standing on the stage in front of the likes of Nigel Mansell, Jenson Button, Kimi Raikkonen, Ron Dennis and Bernie Ecclestone, or joining the list of names that includes Button, David Coulthard and Gary Paffett as McLaren Autosport BRDC Award winners.

With the World Series cars, provided by Carlin Motorsport and DAMS, included in the driver examinations for the first time, the six finalists were perhaps less prepared for the challenge than in the past, as the previously used Formula 3 racer was not always new to each of the nominees.

Throw in Bruno Spengler's Persson Motorsport Mercedes C-Class DTM and one of Team Dynamics' front-wheel-drive Honda Integra BTCC cars, and extreme versatility was required from the finalists.

Oliver Jarvis leads the 2007 Grand Prix of Macau for Tom's Toyota © LAT

It all came down to impressing the expert panel of judges, MotorSport Vision's Jonathan Palmer and Giles Butterfield, McLaren's Steve Hallam, Autosport's Marcus Pye, and Roger Lane-Nott of the BRDC, during the two-day examination at Snetterton last month.

Although speed was a significant factor in the examination, there were other areas in which Jarvis had to excel before being singled out as the winner. Technical feedback and interaction with the engineers, attitude, and interview skills were also taken into consideration and, with greater experience on his side than his nominee rivals, Jarvis stood out to the panel and came out on top in almost every area of judging.

As well as the prestige of the Award, the honour of being crowned in front of some of the greatest names in motorsport, and the pride in his name being added to the roll of honour, Jarvis receives £50,000 towards his budget for 2006 and a test in a McLaren-Mercedes Formula One car.

After the success of 2005, and with his sights firmly set on following in the footsteps of Coulthard, Button, and Anthony Davidson, who would bet against Jarvis's forthcoming test not being his last outing in one of the fastest cars on the planet?

Where are they now?

Not only did Jarvis impress the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award judges enough for them to select him as the winner, but he made such an impression on one of them that they offered him a drive for the following season. And not just any drive, but a seat with Carlin Motorsport in British Formula 3.

He upped his game further in 2006 and led the team as an F3 rookie. Despite Mike Conway and Double R dominating the season, Jarvis still took three wins and beat Bruno Senna to second place in the championship.

He joined A1GP Team Great Britain that winter and recorded the nation's first victory in the series in Mexico, in just his second race weekend for the team. He was back in the car the following season and added another victory at Zandvoort, helping the team to third in the championship in both seasons.

Money didn't stretch far enough for a GP2 campaign last summer, but thanks to his successes in the car - and in part to the profile boost every Award winner receives - he was offered a deal to race in Japanese F3. He moved out to Tokyo to concentrate fully on the season in Japan and, despite having to learn every circuit on the calendar, he recorded three more wins and finished third in the championship.

Oliver Jarvis at the 2008 Brands Hatch DTM race in a Phoenix Audi © LAT

But the best of 2007 was still to come with the blue-riband Macau Grand Prix, where up against the cream of the F3 crop from the British, European, and Japanese championships, Jarvis dominated the event and won the race from pole position.

Another winter of racing followed in A1GP, and during that time he received a call from Audi inviting him to test one of their DTM cars. After an encouraging first outing, he was signed by the manufacturer to compete in the series this year.

As a rookie in the series and in tin-top racing of any kind, he has made the top eight qualifying shoot-out four times already this season in a 2007-spec car (a rarity for an older model) and continues to impress his employers.

The window of opportunity for a shot at GP2 and a Formula One future could be closing, although second year DTM racer and former Award winner Paul di Resta is about to embark on four days of testing with the McLaren team, but his future with Audi looks bright if he continues his progression in DTM or earns a place in their sportcar ranks.