JONATHAN Kennard secured an impressive second place in race one of the British Formula 3 National Championhsip at the Nurburgring at the weekend.

Although Kennard qualified in third, but had dropped down to sixth after several cars tangled at the first corner.

But the 20-year-old Tunbridge Wells-based driver was in determined mood and had passed Josh Fisher to take fifth by the end of the second lap, before setting about chasing down Barton Mawer.

The three second gap had been closed by lap five and Kennard overtook on the Vedol Chicane.

From fourth position he built up a lead over Mawer and chased down team-mate Juho Annala in third.

On lap seven, and again on the Vedol Chicane, Kennard took his chance to pass Annala and found himself just over a second behind Charlie Hollings.

Just one lap later, he was just 0.1 seconds behind and overtook Hollings with a breathtaking manoeuvre on the straight.

Race leader Salvador Duran was 3.5 seconds ahead, but Kennard was forced to adopt defensive tactics to hold off Hollings, who was close behind him, and was unable to mount a challenge for the lead.

In race two, Christian Bakkerud struggled off the line ahead of Kennard, which allowed several cars through and he dropped to sixth. He went onto an uneventful sixth-placed finish.

Kennard said: "The first race was without doubt my finest ever. Every move I attempted worked and overall I'm really happy with the result, although disappointed with the second race, and I am satisfied that I drove well throughout the event."