Oliver Jonathan Turvey (born 1 April 1987) is a British professional racing driver, who most recently competed in Formula E, and is currently signed to DS Penske as a reserve driver and a sporting advisor. He was a notable kart racer, with two national titles, and was the 2006 McLaren Autosport BRDC Award winner. His career has been supported by the Racing Steps Foundation.[1]

Oliver Turvey
Turvey in 2012
NationalityUnited Kingdom British
Born (1987-04-01) 1 April 1987 (age 37)
Penrith, Cumbria, England
Formula E career
Debut season2014–15
Racing licence FIA Platinum
Former teamsNIO Formula E Team
Starts86
Championships0
Wins0
Podiums1
Poles1
Fastest laps0
Best finish10th in 2017–18
Finished last season18th (6 pts)
Previous series
2004–06
2007
2007
2008
2009
2009–102011
2011
2013
Formula BMW UK
Italian FRenault
Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0
British Formula 3
Formula Renault 3.5 Series
GP2 Asia Series
Blancpain Endurance Series
European Le Mans Series
Awards
2006
2008
McLaren Autosport Award
Cambridge Full Blue

Career history

edit

Karting

edit

Like many aspiring junior racing drivers, Penrith-born Turvey began his karting career at eight years old. After three seasons, he progressed to the British Cadet Championship in 1999, in which he was placed fifth overall, and was selected as a member of the English National team, which won that year's Inter-nation Championship. In 2000, Turvey graduated to the Junior Yamaha National Championship and won the title. After a season in Junior TKM, he moved on to the Junior Rotax class in 2002 and added that title to his collection.

Car racing

edit

Turvey made his formula single seater debut in the 2003 British Formula Renault Winter Series and spent the remainder of the season competing in Zip Formula, in which he was the highest-placed rookie. In 2004, he sidestepped into Formula BMW UK with Team SWR and achieved one race win. At the end of the season, he made a one-off Formula Three debut in the Promotion class of the Asian F3 Championship.

In the following season, Turvey stayed with Team SWR in Formula BMW, making eight appearances (each with two race starts) in the ten-round championship. Budgetary restrictions prevented him from entering more than seven rounds in 2006, but points scores in every race (including five wins) secured second place overall. At the Formula BMW World Final in Valencia, he was the highest-placed British finisher in sixth position. Turvey ended the year by beating five other finalists to win the McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award.[2]

Although Turvey was expected to graduate to the British F3 Championship in 2007,[3] he has instead opted for the opportunity of competing in continental Europe. He spent the season dovetailing a dual program in Italian Formula Renault and the Formula Renault Eurocup with the experienced Jenzer Motorsport organisation.[4] In 2008, he was runner-up in the British Formula 3 Championship, behind teammate Jaime Alguersuari.

Turvey competed in the World Series by Renault for 2009, where he was once again paired with Alguersuari at Carlin.[5] He won a single race and finished the championship as top rookie, in fourth position. He competed in the 2009–10 GP2 Asia Series season and took part in the 2010 GP2 Series season for the iSport International team.[1]

On 16 November 2010 he took part in the Formula One young drivers test in Abu Dhabi driving for McLaren. Turvey set the second fastest time, 1.1 seconds slower than the quickest time set by Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo.[6]

With his Racing Steps Foundation backing having expired at the end of 2010, Turvey was unable to raise a budget for another GP2 season in 2011. However, he was drafted by Carlin—the team now competing in its first year of GP2—to replace Mikhail Aleshin for the third round of the championship in Monaco; Aleshin also struggling to find enough money for a full season.[7] He finished in the points in his comeback race, but was subsequently penalised due to jumping the start. He was replaced for the following round by Álvaro Parente, and finished 25th in the championship. Prior to the start of the 2011 GP2 Series Turvey drove in the 2011 GP2 Asia Series season for Ocean Racing Technology.[8]

Aside from his GP2 drives, Turvey also competed in selected rounds of the 2011 Blancpain Endurance Series season for CRS Racing, competing alongside Andrew Kirkaldy and Alvaro Parente in a McLaren MP4-12C GT3.[9]

 
Turvey driving a McLaren MP4-26 at the 2012 Goodwood Festival of Speed

Turvey joined Gary Paffett as a test driver for McLaren for the 2012 Formula One season.[10]

In 2013 Turvey stepped up from GTs to Sports Prototypes by signing a deal with Jota Sport to race their LMP2 Zytek Z11SN-Nissan in the 2013 European Le Mans Series season and selected rounds of the FIA World Endurance Championship, including the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans.[11] Turvey qualified on pole position and won his first start in the car, at the opening rain-shortened ELMS round at Silverstone.[12]

In February 2014 it was announced that Turvey would partner Fabien Giroix and John Martin in an LMP2 Oreca 03-Nissan run by Delta Motorsport and Millennium Racing for an assault on the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship season.[13] However the team's plans received a setback when they withdrew from the season-opening 6 Hours of Silverstone due to delays in receiving funding.[14] They subsequently missed the second round of the WEC and the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans due to their financial problems.[15] However Turvey received a call up from the Jota squad to race at Le Mans when Jota and Audi reserve driver Marc Gené replaced Audi driver Loïc Duval when the latter was injured in a practice crash. Turvey subsequently shared the LMP2 class win alongside his teammates.[16]

Formula E

edit
 
Turvey driving at the 2021 Puebla ePrix.

Turvey would make his Formula E debut for NEXTEV TCR at the 2015 London ePrix, partnering with Nelson Piquet Jr. He would finish ninth in both events.[17] He and Piquet Jr. would be retained for the 2015–16 season, where he would place 14th in the final standings with 11 points alongside a best finish of sixth at Beijing. Turvey, now with a rebranded NEXTEV NIO for the 2016–17 season, would earn his first pole position in Formula E at Mexico City after Daniel Abt was penalised due to a tyre pressure infringment, but would ultimately retire from the race due to battery issues.[18] He would finish 12th in the final points standings with 26 points. For the 2017–18 season, Turvey would partner with Luca Filippi in the once again rebranded NIO Formula E Team, where would earn his first podium in Mexico City with a second place finish.[19] He would finish tenth in the standings with 46 points despite withdrawing from the New York ePrix due to suffering a hand injury during second practice.[20][21] Turvey would then partner with Tom Dillmann for the 2018–19 season, where he would only score seven points throughout the course of the season with a best result of eighth at Santiago. In the following season, he would partner with Ma Qinghua at the beginning of the year and then with Daniel Abt for the final rounds at Berlin for NIO 333 FE Team, where he would 24th in the standings with no points.[22] He would then partner with Tom Blomqvist for the 2020–21 season, finishing 23rd in the standings with 13 points and a best result of sixth at Diriyah.[23] Turvey would partner with former Formula 2 driver Dan Ticktum for the 2021–22 season, where he would only finish in the points once at Rome with a seventh place finish.[24] He would finish 18th in the standings. Turvey would not be retained for the following season, and would join DS Penske as the team's reserve driver as well as sporting advisor.[25]

Awards

edit

Dec. 2006 – McLaren Autosport BRDC Award[26]
2008 – Sports Personality of the Year award at the 2008 Cumbria Sports Awards[27]
2008 – Daily Mirror Best British Driver in F3 Award[28]
2008 – Awarded the Dunhill Future Champion Award at Goodwood Festival of Speed[29]
2008 – University of Cambridge Extraordinary Full Blue for Motorsport (the first ever for the sport).[30][31]
2008 – British Racing Drivers' Club National Racing Driver of the Year[32]

Education

edit

Turvey attended Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Penrith, Cumbria in England and Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge as an undergraduate, where he studied engineering. In late 2007, he applied to become a Cambridge Full Blue, the highest honour that can be awarded to a sportsman at the university. He completed his bachelor's degree in 2008 and was awarded the Full Blue by the university; the first ever racing driver to be awarded the accolade.[30][31] His Master's will include a dissertation on F1 aerodynamics. He has a sister, called Lucie, who also attended Queen Elizabeth Grammar School. Turvey currently lives in London.

Racing career

edit

Career summary

edit
Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2003 Zip Formula Great Britain Unknown 4 0 - - - 118 4th
Formula Renault UK Winter Series Mark Burdett Motorsport 4 0 0 0 0 6 18th
2004 Formula BMW UK SWR Omegaland 18 1 0 0 1 83 7th
Team SWR Pioneer
2005 Formula BMW UK Team SWR Pioneer 16 0 1 2 6 103 8th
2006 Formula BMW UK Team Loctite 14 5 7 2 10 209 2nd
2007 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Jenzer Motorsport 13 0 0 0 1 51 8th
Formula Renault 2.0 Italy 14 0 1 0 2 176 9th
Porsche Carrera Cup GB Porsche Motorsport 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC†
2008 British Formula 3 International Series Carlin Motorsport 22 4 4 4 13 234 2nd
2009 Formula Renault 3.5 Series Carlin Motorsport 17 1 1 0 5 93 4th
Formula One Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Test driver
2010 GP2 Series iSport International 20 0 1 1 4 48 6th
Formula One Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Test driver
2011 GP2 Series Carlin Motorsport 2 0 0 0 0 0 25th
Formula One Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Test driver
2012 Formula One Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Test driver
2013 European Le Mans Series Jota Sport 5 1 4 1 3 71 3rd
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 7th
FIA GT Series MRS GT Racing 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC†
Formula One Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Test driver
2014 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 Jota Sport 1 1 0 0 1 N/A 1st
Formula One McLaren Mercedes Test driver
2014–15 Formula E NEXTEV TCR 2 0 0 0 0 2 22nd
2015 Super GT Drago Modulo Honda Racing 8 0 0 0 0 26 12th
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 Jota Sport 1 0 0 1 1 N/A 2nd
Formula One McLaren Honda Test driver
2015–16 Formula E NEXTEV TCR 10 0 0 0 0 11 14th
2016 Super GT Drago Modulo Honda Racing 5 0 1 0 0 5 19th
Formula One McLaren Honda Test driver
2016–17 Formula E NextEV 12 0 1 0 0 26 12th
2017 Formula One McLaren Honda Test driver
2017–18 Formula E Nio Formula E Team 10 0 0 0 1 46 10th
2018 24 Hours of Le Mans CEFC TRSM Racing 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF
Formula One McLaren F1 Team Test driver
2018–19 Formula E Nio Formula E Team 13 0 0 0 0 7 20th
FIA World Endurance Championship CEFC TRSM Racing 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
2019 Formula One McLaren F1 Team Test driver
2019–20 Formula E Nio 333 FE Team 11 0 0 0 0 0 24th
2020 Formula One McLaren F1 Team Test driver
2020–21 Formula E Nio 333 FE Team 15 0 0 0 0 13 23rd
2021 Formula One McLaren F1 Team Test driver
2021–22 Formula E Nio 333 FE Team 16 0 0 0 0 6 18th
2022 Formula One McLaren F1 Team Test driver
2022–23 Formula E DS Penske Reserve driver
2023 Formula One McLaren F1 Team Test driver
2023–24 Formula E DS Penske Reserve driver
2024 Formula One McLaren F1 Team Test driver

As Turvey was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.
* Season still in progress.

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

edit

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Pos Pts
2009 Carlin Motorsport CAT
SPR

4
CAT
FEA

11
SPA
SPR

6
SPA
FEA

14
MON
FEA

1
HUN
SPR

8
HUN
FEA

Ret
SIL
SPR

3
SIL
FEA

3
BUG
SPR

3
BUG
FEA

10
ALG
SPR

Ret
ALG
FEA

6
NÜR
SPR

4
NÜR
FEA

Ret
ALC
SPR

2
ALC
FEA

5
4th 93

Complete GP2 Series results

edit

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Points
2010 iSport International CAT
FEA

5
CAT
SPR

5
MON
FEA

15
MON
SPR

15
IST
FEA

14
IST
SPR

18
VAL
FEA

Ret
VAL
SPR

12
SIL
FEA

8
SIL
SPR

2
HOC
FEA

8
HOC
SPR

2
HUN
FEA

4
HUN
SPR

5
SPA
FEA

6
SPA
SPR

5
MNZ
FEA

3
MNZ
SPR

6
YMC
FEA

2
YMC
SPR

17
6th 47
2011 Carlin IST
FEA
IST
SPR
CAT
FEA
CAT
SPR
MON
FEA

14
MON
SPR

8
VAL
FEA
VAL
SPR
SIL
FEA
SIL
SPR
NÜR
FEA
NÜR
SPR
HUN
FEA
HUN
SPR
SPA
FEA
SPA
SPR
MNZ
FEA
MNZ
SPR
25th 0

Complete GP2 Asia Series results

edit

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 DC Points
2009–10 iSport International YMC1
FEA

8
YMC1
SPR

4
YMC2
FEA

1
YMC2
SPR

5
BHR1
FEA

9
BHR1
SPR

6
BHR2
FEA

9
BHR2
SPR

11
6th 17
2011 Ocean Racing Technology YMC
FEA

18
YMC
SPR

19
IMO
FEA

14
IMO
SPR

8
16th 0

24 Hours of Le Mans results

edit
Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2013   Jota Sport   Simon Dolan
  Lucas Luhr
Zytek Z11SN-Nissan LMP2 319 13th 7th
2014   Jota Sport   Simon Dolan
  Harry Tincknell
Zytek Z11SN-Nissan LMP2 356 5th 1st
2015   Jota Sport   Simon Dolan
  Mitch Evans
Gibson 015S-Nissan LMP2 358 10th 2nd
2018   CEFC TRSM Racing   Alex Brundle
  Oliver Rowland
Ginetta G60-LT-P1-Mecachrome LMP1 137 DNF DNF

Complete European Le Mans Series results

edit

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Class Car Engine 1 2 3 4 5 Rank Points
2013 Jota Sport LMP2 Zytek Z11SN Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 SIL
1
IMO
Ret
RBR
4
HUN
3
LEC
3
3rd 71

Complete Super GT results

edit

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 DC Points
2015 Drago Modulo Honda Racing Honda NSX-GT GT500 OKA
6
FUJ
8
CHA
10
FUJ
6
SUZ
12
SUG
7
AUT
7
MOT
7
12th 26
2016 Drago Modulo Honda Racing Honda NSX-GT GT500 OKA
12
FUJ
13
SUG
7
FUJ
Ret
SUZ
Ret
CHA MOT MOT 19th 5

Complete Formula E results

edit

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Chassis Powertrain 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Pos Points
2014–15 NEXTEV TCR Spark SRT01-e SRT01-e BEI PUT PDE BUE MIA LBH MCO BER MSC LDN
9
LDN
9
22nd 4
2015–16 NEXTEV TCR Spark SRT01-e NEXTEV TCR FormulaE 001 BEI
6
PUT
Ret
PDE
12
BUE
9
MEX
11
LBH
12
PAR
13
BER
12
LDN
15†
LDN
10
14th 11
2016–17 NEXTEV NIO Spark SRT01-e NEXTEV FormulaE 002 HKG
8
MRK
7
BUE
9
MEX
Ret
MCO
13†
PAR
11
BER
10
BER
9
NYC
6
NYC
14
MTL
15
MTL
17
12th 26
2017–18 NIO Formula E Team Spark SRT01-e NextEV Nio Sport 003 HKG
16
HKG
6
MRK
Ret
SCL
14
MEX
2
PDE
7
RME
12
PAR
9
BER
5
ZUR
9
NYC
WD
NYC 10th 46
2018–19 NIO Formula E Team Spark SRT05e Nio Sport 004 ADR
13
MRK
16
SCL
8
MEX
12
HKG
9
SYX
12
RME
13
PAR
14
MCO
Ret
BER
18
BRN
16
NYC
10
NYC
13
20th 7
2019–20 Nio 333 FE Team Spark SRT05e Nio FE-005 DIR
15
DIR
DSQ
SCL
11
MEX
13
MRK
21
BER
16
BER
18
BER
16
BER
22
BER
19
BER
21
24th 0
2020–21 Nio 333 FE Team Spark SRT05e NIO 333 001 DIR
10
DIR
6
RME
DNS
RME
14
VLC
NC
VLC
8
MCO
19
PUE
11
PUE
Ret
NYC
Ret
NYC
Ret
LDN
15
LDN
14
BER
19
BER
19
23rd 13
2021–22 Nio 333 FE Team Spark SRT05e NIO 333 001 DRH
19
DRH
18
MEX
14
RME
17
RME
7
MCO
14
BER
16
BER
17
JAK
12
MRK
17
NYC
15
NYC
16
LDN
15
LDN
14
SEO
Ret
SEO
15
18th 6

Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed more than 90% of the race distance.
* Season still in progress.

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

edit

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Rank Points
2018–19 CEFC TRSM Racing LMP1 Ginetta G60-LT-P1 Mecachrome V634P1 3.4 L Turbo V6 SPA
WD
LMS
Ret
SIL FUJ SHA SEB SPA LMS NC 0

References

edit
  1. ^ a b Anderson, Ben (14 October 2009). "Turvey gets iSport GP2 seat". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 14 October 2009.
  2. ^ Turvey is McLaren Autosport winner autosport.com, 3 December 2006. Retrieved on 21 April 2007.
  3. ^ Turvey expected to surprise in F3 autosport.com, 4 December 2006. Retrieved on 21 April 2007.
  4. ^ Turvey signs for Renault Eurocup Archived 24 January 2007 at the Wayback Machine oliverturvey.com. Retrieved on 21 April 2007.
  5. ^ "Turvey completes Carlin line-up". autosport.com. 23 January 2009. Retrieved 23 January 2009.
  6. ^ Straw, Edd (16 November 2010). "Ricciardo tops day one of rookie test". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 17 November 2010.
  7. ^ "Oliver Turvey back at Carlin for Monaco". crash.net. Crash Media Group. 26 May 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
  8. ^ Beer, Matt (1 February 2011). "Turvey joins Ocean for GP2 Asia". autosport.com. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
  9. ^ "Turvey lands McLaren GT3 race role". Racing Steps Foundation. 4 May 2011. Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
  10. ^ Rowland, Nick (1 February 2012). "McLaren unveils its 2012 challenger". Race Department. Archived from the original on 12 February 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  11. ^ "Le Mans Series – McLaren test driver signs for Jota". Eurosport. 10 January 2013. Archived from the original on 6 September 2013. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
  12. ^ O'Leary, Jamie (13 April 2013). "Silverstone ELMS: Oliver Turvey and Jota win as rain truncates race". autosport.com. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
  13. ^ "Oliver Turvey set for the World Endurance Championship". McLaren. 13 February 2014. Archived from the original on 1 September 2014. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
  14. ^ Dagys, John (15 April 2014). "Millennium Withdraws from Silverstone". Sportscar365. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
  15. ^ DeGroot, Nick (7 June 2014). "Millennium Racing pulls out of Le Mans". motorsport.com. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
  16. ^ "Audi Takes 1–2 Finish in Eventful 24 Hours of Le Mans". msn.foxsports.com. 15 June 2014. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
  17. ^ "Nelson Piquet Jr crowned first ever FIA Formula E champion in thrilling London finale". NBC Sports. Luke Smith. 28 June 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  18. ^ "Tyre-pressure fault costs Abt pole". Eurosport. 1 April 2017. Archived from the original on 5 April 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  19. ^ Larkham, Lewis (4 March 2018). "Turvey praises NIO's progress after maiden Formula E podium". Crash. Archived from the original on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  20. ^ Dagys, John (14 July 2018). "Turvey Ruled Out for Weekend; Ma to Sub on Sunday". eRacing365. Archived from the original on 22 October 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  21. ^ "Oliver Turvey ruled out of Formula E's New York finale after injury". Autosport. 14 July 2018. Archived from the original on 19 November 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  22. ^ "Rebranded NIO team reveals Turvey and Ma as 2019/20 FE drivers". Autosport. Alex Kalinauckes. 15 October 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  23. ^ "Blomqvist, Turvey at NIO for 2020-2021 FE season". Autosport. Matt Kew. 23 November 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  24. ^ "NIO 333's double Formula E points finish "a small victory" - Turvey". Motorsport. Jake Boxall-Legge. 12 April 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  25. ^ "Turvey takes reserve, sporting advisor role at DS Penske FE squad". Motorsport. Jake Boxall-Legge. 12 December 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  26. ^ Turvey is McLaren Autosport winner
  27. ^ Cumbria Sports Awards 2008 (28 November 2008). "BBC – Cumbria – In Pictures – Cumbria Sports Awards 2008". Bbc.co.uk:80. Archived from the original on 13 November 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  28. ^ "Other sports: athletics, motorsport, superbikes, snooker...and more — Mirror Online". Mirror.co.uk. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  29. ^ "| Oliver Turvey Racing |". Oliverturvey.com. 1 April 1987. Archived from the original on 12 February 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  30. ^ a b "Cambridge Awards First Ever Motor Sport 'Blue' to Oliver Turvey". British F3 International Series. 14 August 2008. Archived from the original on 12 September 2009. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  31. ^ a b Autosport, 14 August 2008 p. 43. Retrieved on 18 August 2008.
  32. ^ English, Steven (7 December 2008). "National Racing Driver: Oliver Turvey". Autosport. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
edit
Awards
Preceded by McLaren Autosport BRDC Award
2006
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Jason Plato (Racing Driver)
Mark Higgins (Rally Driver)
Autosport
National Driver of the Year

2008
Succeeded by