He may have been forced to abandon his Manor Motorsport Dallara-Mercedes at half-distance in the Bahrain F3 Superprix, but the trip to the Middle East still crowned a good few days for Paul di Resta.

On the Sunday before he flew out to Bahrain, the 18-year old Scot was named to one of motorsport's most coveted prizes, when he won the McLaren Autosport Young Driver of the Year award, but any thought of celebrations had to be put on ice as he headed for his competitive F3 debut among some of the biggest names in the class.

Undaunted, di Resta set about learning the Bahrain International Circuit during Wednesday's free practice sessions, before putting the #22 machine second overall in wet first qualifying, beaten only by Manor team-mate Lewis Hamilton. And, while Hamilton crashed out of the drier second session - ultimately ending up in 22nd place overall - di Resta kept his head to hold on to fourth place, ahead of series champions Nelson Piquet Jr, Ronnie Quintarelli and Matteo Cressoni.

A couple of places were conceded during a truncated qualification race, as the greater experience of those around him paid off, but di Resta was still in the hunt for a possible podium as he lined up sixth on the grid for the main event. He continued to battle with Piquet and Lucas di Grassi in the early stages of the 20-lap encounter but, having seen off the two Brazilians, followed them into retirement at half-distance.

“I wasn't expecting anything - or ruling anything out,” the calm Scot admitted of his F3 debut, "I liked the track, which has a good variety of corners. We got a good set-up in practice, and a good lap in qualifying, and that put us in a good position.”

The baptism may not have had the outcome di Resta was looking for, but it appears that he has done enough to ensure that he will be competing full-time for Manor - and engine-builder Mercedes - in next season's F3 Euroseries.

And, wherever, he winds up in 2005 and beyond, di Resta will know that at least one household name will be keeping an eye on his results. Indy Racing League race winner Dario Franchitti is the young Scot's cousin and, having made time to watch his relative competing in the British Formula Renault series this season, made the trip to Bahrain to witness his F3 debut.

“I'm very impressed,” Franchitti admitted, "He has exceeded my expectations. Most of the other drivers here have been doing this for almost two years, so they're no slouches. There's a lot of pressure, but Paul's not been fazed by it at all.”