CHAMPIONSHIP leader Oliver Jarvis (Burwell, Cambs) says he is not worried his Formula Renault UK Championship with Michelin rivals were ahead of him in yesterday’s testing at Brands Hatch in which the 21-year-old was fifth quickest.
The Manor Motorsport driver is 16 points ahead of Sean McIntosh (Vancouver, Canada) and 36 ahead of James Jakes (Leeds) on dropped scores coming into this weekend’s final round, making it the closest championship fight in the series’ 15-year history.
“At the end of the day I can finish behind both of them and still win the championship so the pressure is on them,” said Jarvis, who was one-and-a-half tenths off McIntosh’s third-place time of 1m24.317s. “They have got to go out and beat me. Sean threw it off twice today so maybe he’s feeling the pressure more than me.”
McIntosh, who last week came ninth in the inaugural A1 Grand Prix championship representing Canada, says his day could have gone better but the car still has a lot to give. “I was pushing a bit when it was damp and ended up in the barrier,” said the 20-year-old. “I was trying to use a few kerbs that I can’t in a Renault but in an A1 it was alright! I came back out and was quite quick but there’s still more left in the car.”
The Team Firstair driver says he has not looked at the points, and is focusing solely on his performance this weekend. “You can’t take any notice of what everyone else is doing,” he said. “I need to go in and have a few P1s in qualifying and that’s where it will start. I’m just coming here to win some races.”
Quickest in testing was Sebastian Hohenthal (Mora, Sweden) who has yet to score his first win in Formula Renault, but whose consistency has kept him in fourth place. He grabbed the fastest time minutes before the end of the four-hour session by just 0.026s from Stephen Simpson (Aldeburgh, Suffolk) who had led for most of testing.” We haven’t raced or tested on the circuit ever in a Formula Renault so maybe I can adapt a bit quicker than the other drivers,” said Simpson who last weekend came 6th in the A1GP, also on Brands Hatch’s GP circuit, representing South Africa. “It’s hard to tell whether that helped or hindered me today. There’s a lot less grip and I remember going a certain speed around corners last week but if I tried that in a Renault I’ll go flying off the road.”
Simpson says he wants to win his first Formula Renault race this weekend to mark the last time Team JLR will participate after its merger with a GT team. “It’s going to be a very special weekend for all of us,” said the 21-year-old. “We’re all moving onto other things. I want a win for myself but also for Richard Dean and the team. I always try my best but I’ll be pulling out all the stops this weekend.”
