3) Oliver Rowland
Racing Steps Foundation-backed Oliver Rowland was a strong contender from the beginning of the season, and only bouts of bad luck cost him the chance of challenging for the title this season.
There were a number of issues that cost Rowland a good haul of points, with technical problems affecting him in both qualifying and races in 2014, none worse than a clutch failure during his pit stop during race two in Spa-Francorchamps when the Briton was leading the race.
He only took two wins in 2014, firstly at Motorland Aragon in April and the series finale in Jerez in October. In between he took three other podium finishes, but also saw three retirements, the one in Spa-Francorchamps, one in Moscow when he was taken out by Carlos Sainz Jr, and one at the Nurburgring when he was caught up in a first corner clash with Sainz and Oscar Tunjo.
He has already confirmed his return to the series for 2014 and will remain with the Fortec Motorsports team for another year. He should be one of the drivers in the field challenging for the title, and with a year of experience in the series he could tart the year as favourite for the crown.
