Jarvis Aiming To Return To Winning Ways At Croft

Cambridgeshire race ace Oliver Jarvis is confident of a return to winning ways at Croft Circuit in North Yorkshire next weekend, 16th/17th July, when the Formula Renault UK Championship with Michelin resumes for its ninth and 10th rounds of the season.The 21-year-old Burwell driver has been a revelation this year and having taken four victories and three second places so far, Oliver has managed to open up a very healthy 36 point lead in the highly prestigious, world-renowned category which has bred the likes of Grand Prix winner Kimi Raikkonen.Competing with Dinnington-based Manor Motorsport, Oliver heads to Croft in a little over a week’s time aiming to make amends for a disappointing eighth round of the season at Oulton Park Island Circuit last month, where he was unfortunately involved in a collision early on in the race - spoiling his previously unbeaten run of four straight race victories.The impact saw Oliver lose the nose cone off his car and even though a lengthy pitstop meant he rejoined over a lap down on the rest of the field, the series leader fought hard and drove superbly well to claim one point for 20th position and also two bonus points for setting the fastest lap of the race.“Oulton Park was certainly a disappointment after what happened in the second of the weekend’s races and I’m annoyed with myself for making the mistake in the first place”, reflected Oliver.“We would certainly have been in good shape to take a podium finish at the very least and I’m frustrated to miss out on another big haul of points, particularly as the season had gone almost faultlessly up to that point.”At the end of the season, however, each driver is duty-bound to drop their three worse scores of the year, effectively meaning a competitor’s 17 best scores from the 20 rounds contested will go to form their final championship total. In other words, the round eight set-back could actually end up playing into Oliver’s hands.He added: “We won’t let the bad result detract from what has been an amazing year so far and I’m sure we’ll be back at the front at Croft. It’s been a long time since the last round but when we had a lengthy break between races earlier in the season, we came back very strongly and were highly competitive so hopefully that’ll be the case again.“My aim is to return to winning ways and I’m confident that’ll happen. Croft is a circuit I like, I went well there last year, and our aim is to put as much pressure as possible on my main rivals by taking two more wins and extending the championship lead again.”Rounds nine and 10 of the 2005 Formula Renault UK Championship with Michelin take place at Croft Circuit in North Yorkshire next weekend, 16th/17th July. Official testing is scheduled two days prior to the race meeting on Thursday, 14th July.Oliver Jarvis Championship Position (after rounds seven and eight):Formula Renault UK Championship with Michelin – 1st overall; 215 points