Dennis Olsen
The 17-year-old Norwegian karting ace made the move to car racing in 2013 after a stellar early career, capped off with the German Kart Championship title in 2012. He began the year in the highly competitive Toyota Racing Series in New Zealand before completing a full season in the Formula Renault 2.0 NEC, achieving convincing results in both championships.
In New Zealand he joined eventual championship winning team M2 Competition and showed immediate pace at the first round to take the fight to established single-seater racers. He improved solidly throughout the championship to finish with a well-deserved fifth place in the second race at Manfield – his best finish on his way to a respectable 13th place in the championship.
Back in Europe, he joined up with multiple Formula Renault 2.0 champions Josef Kaufmann Racing for the Formula Renault 2.0 NEC campagin. Just like in New Zealand, he took some time to find his feet in the championship, but he was able to improve leaps and bonds mid-season, starting to achieve strong results for the team alongside fellow TRS graduate Steijn Schothorst. He learned from his experienced teammate to finish on the podium three times on his way to third place in the championship, right behind Fortec duo Matthew Parry and Jack Aitken due to staggering consistency.
Olsen had a very strong rookie season in car racing and has even been linked to a possible move to the Red Bull Junior Team for 2014. The Norwegian has tested Formula Renault 3.5 this offseason, but a move to the highly competitive Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 is much more likely as a 2014 plan.
Stephen Goddard