The Cambridgeshire ace has certainly been pushing very hard indeed throughout 2007, narrowly missing out on the Japanese F3 Championship laurels in only his first season in the Far East, after similarly claiming the runner-up spot in his maiden British F3 campaign last year – ahead of current GP2 stars Bruno Senna and Christian Bakkerud.

“There are fewer drivers in Japan,” he acknowledged, “but I actually think it's more competitive than British F3; the top three or four are some of the best drivers I've ever come across. Most of them have been doing it a couple of years and had more experience of the Bridgestone tyres than I did, but it really helped improve me as a driver.

“I was very frustrated to come so close and then have a battery failure in the last round. There were a number of times throughout the year when we were unlucky, but overall it was a fantastic experience and I learnt a lot.”

Beyond that, Jarvis is keeping his racing instincts sharp over the traditionally quiet winter months by racing for Britain in the nation vs nation A1GP series. Having registered his country's debut victory in Mexico earlier this year, he went on to repeat that feat by triumphing in the opening round on the 2007/08 calendar at Zandvoort – to set Team GB's championship charge up in style.

“A1GP is fantastic,” he stated. “It has slightly less power and the acceleration isn't as quick as an F1 machine – the A1GP car moves around a lot more in the corners – but it's been very good to me, and so far every time I've got in the car we've been reasonably quick.

“This season I would say there are six teams that can win the championship, and we are certainly one of them. We've just got to try to cut out the errors and make sure we finish consistently in the points. I see no reason why we can't arrive at the final round at Brands Hatch fighting for the title.”