Motorsport News
Jarvis Claims Strong Results On Sportscar Debut at Wheel of Kolles Audi R10 TDI in Japan
By source: Audi Sport
Nov 1, 2009, 20:15

Cambridgeshire’s Oliver Jarvis netted excellent fourth and fifth places on his sportscar début at the wheel of his diesel-engined Audi in Japan last weekend (31 Oct/1 Nov).

The 25-year-old from Burwell qualified the Audi “customer” Kolles R10 TDI in sixth place on Friday and went on to claim a magnificent third place finish in the first-ever Asian Le Mans Series race on Saturday – having briefly led the race.

But race officials later penalized the Audi R10 TDI of Jarvis and co-driver Christian Bakkerud with a one lap penalty – although Jarvis had not been informed officially of any change in the results.

“I quickly moved up to fifth, shadowing my Kolles Audi team-mate Christijan Albers in the ‘sister’ R10 TDI during my first period in the race but jumped him during the first phase of pit-stops to move in to fourth,” commented Oliver.

“I got in to a really good rhythm during my second ‘stint’ and was able to set consistently quick lap times and closed the gap down to 10secs on the leading trio. My co-driver Christian Bakkerud took over from me and resumed in fourth until moving up to third place six minutes from the finish.

“Christian had to make an unscheduled pit-stop almost within sight of the chequered flag to repair damaged louvers on the front nose section but we held on to net a fabulous third place.

In the second three hour race 24hrs later at the 11-corner, 2.3-mile Okayama venue, Jarvis took over from co-driver Bakkerud placed fourth but slipped to fifth at the chequered flag.

Jarvis added: “My pace was initially very good but then I started to struggle with understeer and front tyre degradation. Despite pushing hard to the finish, I lost a place with two laps to run.

“But after dinner on Sunday evening, I got a message from a friend back home telling me that Saturday’s results had been amended according to a something he’d seen on the internet.

“I still have my third place silverware, no one had told me or indeed anyone in the Kolles team that the result had been changed so I’ve no idea what’s going on.


“The problem apparently surrounds a ruling concerning brake louvers on the front bodywork. We made repairs in our final stop but one of our rivals has protested that the repairs weren’t sufficient.”

But Jarvis, who arrived in Japan with just 40-miles of previous experience of the Audi R10 TDI, thoroughly enjoyed his sportscar maiden outing.

Jarvis added: “It has been a great experience to drive the R10 TDI and also to gain valuable experience in sports car racing. A big thanks to the Kolles team, who did a fantastic job all weekend, and to Audi Sport for enabling me to take part in such an event.

“Having now got a taste, sportscar racing is definitely something I am keen to be more involved in and I would love to compete in the Le Mans 24 Hours.”

RESULTS & POINT STANDINGS:

Okayama (J), October 31, Asian Le Mans Series round 1 1 Tinseau/Nakano (Pescarolo-Judd) 126 laps in 3h 00m 24.018s 2 Lapierre/Duval (ORECA-Aim) + 6.930s 3 Mücke/Primat (Lola-Aston Martin) - 2 laps 4 Bakkerud/Jarvis (Audi R10 TDI) - 2 laps 5 Albers/Cressoni/Noda (Audi R10 TDI) - 4 laps Okayama (J), 1. November, race 2 Asian Le Mans Series 1 Mücke/Primat (Lola-Aston Martin) 128 laps in 3h 01m 8.944s 2 Tinseau/Nakano (Pescarolo-Judd) + 1m 00.177s 3 Lapierre/Duval (ORECA-Aim) + 1m 8.479s 4 Drayson/Cocker (Lola-Judd) - 1 lap 5 Bakkerud/Jarvis (Audi R10 TDI) - 1 lap 6 Albers/Cressoni/Noda (Audi R10 TDI) - 3 laps Final standings after 2 races: 1 Tinseau/Nakano, 18 points; 2 Mücke/Primat, 16; 3 Lapierre/Duval, 14; 4 Bakkerud/Jarvis, 9; 5 Drayson/Cocker, 9; 6 Albers/Cressoni/Noda, 7.

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