Formula Asian 2002 champion Karun Chandok recorded his best performance in his debut season in Formula 3 as he finished fourth in the second round of the championship at the Donington Circuit on Sunday.
The 18-year-old Chandok, driving for "T-Sport", the junior Carlin Team, had a disastrous first race when he was forced to retire after being hit by Billy Asaro from the rear, according to a press release in New Delhi on Monday.
He raced to fourth position in the second race and maintained the position till the end of the 20-lap race.
The Chennai lad was also consistent in the two qualifying sessions on Saturday. He timed 1:04.863 to finish fourth in the first session, two-tenths behind team-mate Clivio Piccione and just over four-tenths behing pole man Adam Carroll.
In the second, he finished fifth with 1:05.011, still only half a second behind pole winner Carroll.
"The second race was much better and I am really pleased with the result. Jasper Carlsen was pushing me really hard so was really made to work for the whole race."
"I only wish we had scored some more points in race one. But anyways, I'm very happy with the progress made this weekend," Chandok said.
Karun's race engineer Alan Woodhead said, "This weekend Karun has really come of age as a driver. He looks more like an F3 driver and is now a lot closer to the pace of the front runners."
Chandok will next race at the Silverstone Grand Prix on May 5. Bureau Report