Salman Al Khalifa secured a podium finish at
Oulton Park to kick off his second season in the National Class of the British F3 International Series.
The Bahraini driver, back with T-Sport for the coming campaign having switched to Russell Eacott's squad mid-way through 2007, qualified third and second in class for the two races at the Cheshire venue, although the opening race ended in disappointment when he span off in tricky conditions at the Shell Hairpin and was forced to retire.
However he made up for that disappointment in race two by coming home second behind double winner Andy Meyrick having held off the challenge of debutant Niall Quinn following a late Safety Car period.
“I'm pleased to have started the year with a podium, although a little annoyed at my mistake in race one,” he said. “Sometimes after a long winter lay off you can be a little over eager when the season begins and I think that was the case.
“However we were strong in race two and the performance we showed, in difficult conditions, certainly bodes well for the rest of the season.”
Team boss Eacott was full of praise for his driver for bouncing back from his error and admitted he was looking forward to seeing Al Khalifa go head-to-head with Meyrick throughout the season.
“Nothing comes easy in F3 and to have someone like Meyrick in the field should make for a great battle with Salman,” he said. “I know he was frustrated about what happened in race one, but he did exactly what he needed to do in race two to take second place and 15 points.”
