Oliver Turvey has started his season on a strong note when he came home in sixth place and claimed eight points in his NEXTEV TCR car.
Turvey qualified 15th and started on the eighth row of the grid but lost a position to Team Aguri’s Antonio Fleix da Costa when the British driver went into energy saving mode at the start of the race.
When Simona de Silvestro retired, the 28-year-old moved back into 15th position before taking advantage of an incident between Jacques Vileneuve and Da Costa on Lap 14. With Da Costa being forced into retirement, Turvey made his move on Vileneuve as full course yellow flags were waved to clear the stricken Team Aguri car.
“There was a bit of a mess at the start so I went straight into energy saving mode,” claimed Turvey. “We were able to catch up at the end of the first stint as the cars in front were struggling on energy levels. I managed to overtake Villeneuve which I was happy about and then the full course yellow while we were in the pits helped us jump up a few places.”
On Lap 15, Turvey made his stop and emerged in seventh position. Seven laps later, the Brit moved into sixth as Nicolas Prost was forced to retire, guaranteeing Turvey and TCR eight points.
“The second stint was fairly straightforward, we managed energy well and didn’t get pressure from behind. To get sixth here is a great result for me personally but also as after qualifying we were a bit disappointed with the pace of the car so the result was probably the best we could have achieved today.”
“We played a risky strategy pitting late, but it worked out well as both drivers were able to come out of the pitstop in the top ten and we are delighted that Oliver was able to get in the points,” said Team Principal, Steven Lu after the race.
