The final two races of the British F3 International Series ended on a thrilling note at Thruxton (1 October) as Cambridgeshire’s Oliver Jarvis convincingly outscored rival Bruno Senna to take the sought-after runner-up slot in the British F3 Championship with a dominant 21 point advantage.

Jarvis, claiming the title of ‘top rookie of the year’ and top Honda powered driver, drove in commanding style for Carlin Motorsport finishing on maximum points in race 1 and on the third step of the podium in race 2.   And, this was fresh from Friday spent in Zandvoort, Holland where he enjoyed a successful day with A1GP Team Great Britain in the Official Practice to achieve fourth fastest effort in the rookie session described by A1 Team Great Britain Principal, John Surtees as “…a very unselfish practice session working on things with the team.  He (Oliver) only had two flying laps but still placed it fourth overall.”

Starting both Thruxton F3 races from the front row of the grid on a day of atrocious weather conditions, Jarvis remained calm and focussed in his bid to retain second place in the Championship.  On a day that ranged from torrential downpours and blustery winds to warm sunny spells, race one was started behind the safety car in what can only be described as monsoon weather conditions.

With guest driver Danny Watts on pole and not competing for the Championship, Jarvis was in close contention all the way but decided not to take chances that would risk a podium finish for him.   Sensibly, Jarvis finished the race behind Watts but claiming maximum Championship points.

Race two in the afternoon posed a difficult dilemma for teams as changeable weather conditions made choosing the right tyres a crucial factor.  Jarvis, again on the front row, started on ‘wets’ and quickly moved into the lead in the early stages of the race, an advantage that he held in impressive style until the last corner of the final lap of the drying track.  As Jarvis became hindered by traffic and with tyre conditions fast deteriorating, Yelmer Burman closed the gap and reaped the benefits of a massive tow to take the lead, closely pursued by Jarvis’s team-mate Christian Bakkerud, leaving Oliver Jarvis in third.

“It has been an exciting weekend all-in-all, if you consider both my participation in British F3 and the practice for A1GP Team Great Britain.  I was disappointed not to win the very last race at Thruxton but then had to quickly remind myself that coming second in the Championship as the highest placed rookie driver is an achievement in itself!  It has been a great year with Carlin Motorsport and the team has been brilliant.  I now have all my A1GP commitments with Team Great Britain to look forward to and will be travelling to the Czech Republic this week for the next round of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport,“ says  Oliver Jarvis.