28/08/2007
NEWS STORY
A1 Team Great Britain has confirmed that Oliver Turvey will be the team's new rookie driver for the 2007/08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport season. Turvey has a reputation as being one of the finest emerging talents in British motor sport having won the prestigious McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award in 2006. The A1 Team GBR deal will give the 20 year old the opportunity to develop his skills at a host of the international race circuits which host the A1GP series, culminating in the A1GP of Great Britain at Brands Hatch next May.
Turvey's motorsport career began in 1996 when he started karting, championships in Junior Yamaha and Junior Rotax followed before he graduated to single seaters in the Formula Renault Winter Series in 2003. In 2004 Oliver moved up to Formula BMW where he proved to be a frontrunner throughout the season. His first victory in the series came at Rockingham and he was invited to contest the final round of the Asian Formula 3 Championship where a stunning drive saw him take victory in his class and fourth overall. Sponsorship difficulties meant Oliver missed the first third of the 2006 Formula BMW UK Championship but a deal was secured with Team Loctite allowing him to contest the remainder of the season. A victory on his return set the tone and he went on to finish second in the standings with four more wins and five podiums from the 14 races contested. The official A1GP test at Silverstone will give Turvey a chance to get reacquainted with the Team GBR car in preparation for the opening round of the championship at Zandvoort Park, Holland. He had already enjoyed a successful rookie session in Shanghai last season where he posted the third fastest time.