All my best from Ollie, my family and team.

Ollie says, ‘I’m over the moon to get this opportunity and really looking forward to taking place in the shootout at Silverstone. I’m planning to test in the car before the end of the month and I feel very confident making the switch from single seaters to GT cars, which is where I see my future’

‘It was a big decision to call a halt on Formula Renault UK, which wasn’t made overnight and although I’m disappointed not to finish the season on a high, I’m sure, under the circumstances, it’s the right thing to do. Unless you have an unlimited budget a career in single seater racing is now almost impossible to achieve so realistically I would have switched to GT racing soon anyway. We just haven’t had the pace this season and after my last race at Oulton Park the car, which was on hire, was stripped down and it was found that I had a cracked chassis which would affect the handling and performance considerably. I’ve been racing since I was eight years old and I know what’s needed to win so I’m really looking forward to a new challenge in a completely different racing environment. I’m already getting a lot of good advice and starting to get interest from teams so hopefully I will make a decision and start testing soon in preparation for next season.” Watch this space!

‘Although the results aren’t brilliant I felt we definitely made some progress this weekend and ended up on Sunday closer to the pace. The team are working hard on the car and I am working on consistency so hopefully this will result in race wins soon. Although this is not the start we were looking for there is a long way to go yet and if we can turn it around soon we can be where we should be and challenging for the championship.”

In race one on Sunday morning Ollie had his usual good start, immediately putting pressure on forth placed man Oliver Rowlands until claiming his place around the outside at Druids. From then on all he could do was hold this position for the full 24 laps to the chequered flag and claim fastest lap and a new track record. Race two in the afternoon was much the same, again making a very quick start off the line and taking fourth position from Will Stevens at the first corner where he remained to the chequered flag.

“It wasn’t an ideal weekend for me and the Manor guys but considering the position we were in after qualifying I have to be happy to come away with some decent points on the board. Unusually all the Manor drivers struggled for pace yesterday and I had to push the car like mad to get as far up the grid as I could and two fifths was all I could manage. The team changed the complete setup of the car on Saturday evening and although it was better on Sunday this is a very difficult circuit to overtake on so all in all I have to be happy that I moved forward in both races. I’ve picked up some useful points this weekend and there’s a long way to go to the end of the season. Myself and the team know we have a lot of work to do before the next race at Donington Park but I’m confidence we will be back on the pace and challenging for the championship when we get there.”

“We’ve had some really strong pre season test days and although we’ve been constantly trying different set ups on the car I’ve consistantly kept myself at the sharp end of the time sheets knowing there’s more to come. Myself and the team know what we’ve got to do and we intend to give it our all to acheive it. I’m really looking forward to this year and although the grid numbers are down I’m expecting a competitive championship, which I’m very used to from winning championships in karting. There are some quick guys out there but we intend to be quicker.”

“I had two very good days testing here with the team and topped the times three out of the five sessions I drove in. After the  two official tests (4 days) so far I’m happy with the way things are going and I know there’s more to come. My quickest time in the final session was made with a couple of errors so for sure I would have gone even quicker without them. I will just keep working on it until I we get the perfect lap. We move onto Silverstone National and Arena circuit next Tuesday and Wednesday where I intend to carry on where we left off today and be the quickest again.”

“I’m over the moon that we’re doing Formula Renault with Manor Competition again this season and I can’t wait to get back in the car. Testing gets under way this week at Thruxton and although it’s not an official one all of the teams will be there and it’s a good opportunity to see where everyone is as far as pace is concerned. My new manager Mike Perry is doing a great job and with Tony and Sarah Shaw and my great mechanic Sam also behind me I’m sure I have the best team in the paddock to succeed.”

“To say I had a disappointing weekend is an understatement” said Ollie. After being very quick on Wednesday and Thursday both in the dry and wet, we seemed to struggle on pace when the track was in between and drying and I just didn’t make any progress. Although it got a bit better towards the end of the weekend it was too late and any chances I had of winning had long gone. It’s certainly not the way I would have chosen to finish the year but this is what sometimes happens in sport, especially motor racing and you learn from it:.

“All in all, considering the problems we had in qualifying with slow cars, we’re pleased with our results today and got the best we could from almost nothing. I was very quick in qualifying but when I went for my ultimate lap, purpling sector one, and on pole after sector two, a much slower car completely messed me up relegating me back on the grid. As usual Manor Competition gave me a car that I feel very confident with so I just got my head down and went for it. Two podiums, second place in the championship!  fastest lap of the day! I think we did a good job and have something to take to Pembrey next weekend. Bring it on!”.