Former St John’s school, Sidmouth, pupil and up-and-coming British racing star Harry Tincknell claimed his second FIA Formula 3 European Championship podium finish of the season after a strong performance in the latest round at Brands Hatch, writes Stephen Birley.

Silverstone race winner Tincknell, 21, was third on the road in the third and final race of the weekend, but was moved up to second place when race winner Raffaele Marciello was excluded for a technical infringement.

He added this to fifth place in race one and seventh in race two on a weekend where he returned to form after a difficult weekend last time out at Hockenheim. In each of the three races and two qualifying sessions, Harry was the best-placed of the five-strong Carlin team of Dallara-Volkswagens.

Tincknell said: “We had some problems in free practice, so made quite a few changes to make the car better. We then changed the car again for the second qualifying session and it was better again. I’m a little bit annoyed with some of the other drivers who baulked me while I was on good laps, but I’m happy that we’re back where we should be – in the top six.”

Tincknell was the only driver from outside the Prema Powerteam squad to take a podium finish at Brands.

He said: “It’s good to spoil the Prema party! But I didn’t quite have the pace to challenge the guys ahead. Our qualifying is pretty strong, but on race pace we still have one or two more tenths to find. But it was a much stronger performance today.”

He now prepares for his next outing which is the next round of the championship, at Austria’s Red Bull Ring on the first two days of June. It will be his first races at the track, but he will be going into the weekend with confidence buoyed after moving up to fifth in the points.

“It will just be about getting a strong basis and doing as much preparation as possible, but I’m really looking forward to it – and it’s a great track!” he said.