By Amanda Little

Last updated 12:39, Tuesday, 23 September 2008

It's unlikely the paparazzi will ever snap Oliver Turvey stumbling out of a nightclub with a leggy model on his arm.

Up for the cup: Oliver Turvey after his success at Spa

The playboy lifestyle of Formula One drivers David Coulthard and Jenson Button, pictured below right doesn’t appeal to the Cumbrian youngster.

Turvey shuns the glitz and glamour of motor-racing and is instead making his own mark as a well-spoken academic who last month became the first driver to be awarded a Cambridge Blue.

As well as eyeing the British Formula Three Championship, which will propel him closer to his dream of securing a seat in F1, he is preparing to return to Cambridge to complete his masters in engineering.

As well as producing spine-tingling times on the racetrack, he can get his head around aerodynamics and engine performance. While most of his fellow students are looking forward to hitting the student union bar when the academic year restarts next month, Turvey, 21, is making huge sacrifices to put himself in pole position for a career in F1.

He said: “It’s been tough fitting in motor racing and course work over the last three years. I’ve had to be very determined and focused, and be prepared to make a lot of sacrifices.

“If I have three or four days away racing, I would have to fit in course work around that. There was a lot of burning of the midnight oil. Sometimes I worked all night to meet a deadline.

“Cambridge is one of the top universities in the world and very successful academically so I wouldn’t have missed that experience for the world. It’s rare for a driver to be studying at university but I’m hoping that will be my trademark that sets me apart from other drivers.

“Most racing drivers and people I race against haven’t continued with their education and all they do is race.

“It has been hard work but having an engineering degree is a big advantage. F1 is becoming more and more technical and the relationship between a driver and engineer is very important.

“Top F1 drivers know about cars. Michael Schumacher was a good example of that as he knew everything about his car, and Lewis Hamilton puts a lot of work in on all aspects of his career.

“I can communicate much better with the engineers and help to develop the car and get more out of it.”

Turvey returns to Cambridge’s Fitzwilliam College just a week before contesting the final round of the F3 Championship at Donington Park on October 10, where he hopes to be crowned champion.

He will join the start grid 12 points clear of his nearest rival, Carlin Motorsport team-mate Jaime Alguersuari, after taking his 12th podium finish of the season in the penultimate round in Romania.

Turvey, racing in his first-ever street circuit in Bucharest, produced two second-place finishes from two front row starts to ensure he goes into the final event as red-hot favourite.

He admits he’s shocked to be sitting top of the pile in his first season in F3, and is now preparing for a step up to GP2 – one rung below F1 which also produced British F1 golden boy Lewis Hamilton. He shares the same manager as former McLaren two-times champion Mikka Häkkinen in Monaco-based Didier Coton, who is currently trying to secure a budget of 1.5million Euros to enable Turvey to compete in GP2.

His sponsors, The Racing Steps Foundation – a group which identifies and funds Britain’s best drivers – picked up the 500,000 Euros bill to enable him to compete in F3 this year.

And he responded by taking the championship by storm, with four wins under his belt, and developing a reputation as an exciting driver.

At Silverstone last month, he clinched the British F3 Challenge Cup with double maximum points with two wins and two fastest laps. Turvey said: “It’s rare for a rookie to win the championship, and to be leading with one race to go is a great position to be in.

“Most drivers take at least two years to win it, so I am ahead of schedule.

“I would like to race in GP2 and get a role as a test driver in F1. F1 teams want rookies they can develop but also with the bit of experience that testing will give you.

“It’s still very close as there are four drivers who can win the championship as there are 42 points at stake. It’s probably the most exciting year in F3 for a long time as the title race has never gone down to the wire.

“It’s been fantastic this season being part of a team. I get on so well with the engineers and mechanics and the results have shown how competitive we are. If I win the title at Donington that will be pretty big.”

Despite being a straight A student at Penrith’s Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Turvey, from Langwathby, always had his hopes pinned on a career as a F1 driver. He developed a love of speed when his dad Andrew took him for a day’s karting at Rowrah – a venue which also inspired the dreams of Button and Hamilton.

Turvey was Rowrah club champion at the age of 10 and progressed to the ultra-competitive British Karting Championship.

From there he stepped up to Formula Yamaha, winning the championship at the age of 13, and then winning the 2002 Junior Rotax Max Championship.

It was then he started to seriously consider a career as a racing driver but his rise to the top has not been plain sailing despite his success.

His big breakthrough came when he won the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, which was set up to reward and recognise young UK drivers. Coulthard and Button are among the past winners.

Travelling all over Britain and Europe to racing circuits has meant a lot of sacrifice for his parents, Andrew, a regional manager for Jaguar, and his mum Pat, a nursery school teacher. Turvey said: “There have been a lot of sacrifices and I wouldn’t have been able to achieve anything without the help of my parents.

“There has been a lot of travelling and financial sacrifices. We have up family holidays as there was never time. Even when I was in karting, we were out testing or racing every weekend.”

In a year’s time, Turvey hopes to on the grids of Monza, Monte Carlo, Montreal and Melbourne, where he will race against his old pal Hamilton.

He said: “He was always one class above me as he’s two years older but we went round the karting circuit together, and my dad and I got to know him and his dad well.

“He won GP2 before getting a F1 drive – and I just hope I can follow his career path to the top.”

ALittle@cngroup.co.uk