Mid-week gives us the middle of the list, oen just missed out on the top half in sixth and another just sneeked into fifth.
6. OLIVER TURVEY
Where is he from?
Oliver Turvey is from Penrith in Cumbria, Great Britain. He is twenty one years old and was born on April 1 1987.
What Has He Done?
He started car racing back in 2004 competing in the Formula BMW UK championship where he finished seventh wining one race, he took a step backwards in 2005 when a return to the championship dropped him to eighth place with no wins, and twenty-second place in the Formula BMW World Final.
2006 was a better year, his third in Formula BMW UK where after five wins he was second in the championship, his improvement continued during his second attempt at the Formula BMW World Final, where he finished in sixth place.
He had another disappointing year in 2007, where he competed in three different championship but failed to win a race, he was ninth in the Formula Renault 2.0 Italy championship, eighth in the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup championship and when he made his Formula 3 debut in the Asia Pacific championship, he did three races and was seventh overall.
A full time move to Formula Three followed in 2008 as he drove for the Carlin Motorsport team in the British championship. He finished second despite leading the championship for most of the season and then rounded off the year with seventh place in the Macau Grand Prix.
His career statistics: 109 race starts, ten wins, 37 podiums and 13 poles.
What is He Doing Now?
He is yet to announce his plans for 2009, however he hopes to gain the second seat at iSport in GP2, alongside confirmed Bahraini driver Hamad al Fardan. However it appears more likely that he will move to World Series by Renault and link up again with the Carlin Motorsport team that he ran with in British Formula Three in 2008, working again with 2008 team-mate Jamie Alguersuari.
My Prediction for the Future
Oliver is quite old (in comparison to other “Stars of Tomorrow drivers”) so if he does not get a top GP2 a drive or a championship winning car in World Series by Renault he could struggle to move up.
A lack of budget has held Oliver back so far in his career so hopefully he will be find enough money to find something competitive for 2009
5. MARCUS ERICSSON
Where is he from?
Marcus Ericsson is an eighteen year old from Sweden. He was born on September 2 1990 in Kumla.
What Has He Done?
He has only had one year racing in cars following a very successful karting career. He won the British Formula BMW championship from a very strong field of very talented young drivers, securing the championship the last round of the season on his seventeenth birthday after taking seven wins.
It later emerged that he will be the last ever British Formula BMW champion and the British series will be merged with the German series to create Formula BMW Euroseries for 2008.
His 2008 season was a mix of success and failure, in his twenty-two races he finished on the podium five times during the season and although he failed to take his maiden win he came close, including spinning off the track while leading at Brands Hatch.
Despite all that he still finished fifth in the series as the second best non-Carlin runner. A switch to Carlin for the Macau Grand Prix should have brought success but he was involved in a first lap accident and retired.
His career statistics: 41 race starts, seven wins, 18 podiums and 13 poles.
What is He Doing Now?
For 2009 Marcus is going to Japan, instead of racing for the all dominant Carlin team in British Formula Three. He will be racing for another all dominant team, Toyota Team TOM’s, a team that have guided many drivers to the Japanese Formula Three Championship and Macau Grand Prix wins.
My Prediction for the Future
Marcus is back for a third year in a row, but he has dropped from his number one spot from 2008 to number four, but another poor decision that worries me, in 2008 he was given the opportunity to join eventual champions ART in the Formula Three Euroseries and decided to join Fortec in British Formula Three. This year he was offered a seat at the dominant British Formula Three Champions from 2008, Carlin Motorsport but he has chosen to join multi-title winning Toyota Team TOM’s in Japanese Formula Three.
To keep his career on track he ideally needs to win the title, as many TOM’s drivers have in the past, and then win the Macau Grand Prix to keep in the attention of the top European GP2 teams over the preferred move in 2010, however the last Japanese Formula Three Champion to make it to Formula One was Adrian Sutil in 2006, and before that it was Pedro De La Rosa back in 1995
Written by 6 on Wed, 21 Jan 2009 17:06:40
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