There were many positive things for Max Chjilton to take from the latest rounds of the British F3 International Series at Silverstone, even if the results were not what he was expecting.

A rare mistake in the first of the races resulted in Max spinning out of contention when challenging for 10th place. In the second, a marker bollard got wedged under his Dallara forcing a pit stop to remove it and dropping Max to 26th place.

Those are obviously disappointing results, but the weekend had given many positive indications of Max’s progress. He qualified just 8 tenths of a second away from pole position, a marked step forward from previous rounds and he posted some very impressive sector times throughout the event.

“I’m disappointed, but at the same time there were some really good things about this weekend. I got the set up on the car absolutely where I wanted it in qualifying and now I know how I want the car to be. In the first race I was quicker than the group in front which included the likes of Jonathan Kennard who not only won last time out at Spa, but has three years experience. So from that point I feel very positive.”

Max got a little too much wheelspin off the line at the start of the first race, but even so by the end of the first lap he had already gained a place. Over the opening few laps he moved up to the group comprising Kennard, four cars battling over 9th to 12th places. A brief safety car period called a halt to Max’s progress, but as racing resumed he benefited from another driver’s mistake and found he was now challenging for a place in the points.

Unfortunately on lap 12 Max ran wide on the exit of Abbey and hooked a wheel on the kerb, spinning him onto the grass;

“It was my mistake” he admitted, “I was really pushing to get past and just tried a little too hard. I thought I had got away with it, but at the last moment I spun as I put more power on. I tried to get back on after the spin but the nose got caught on the kerb and broke under the car so I couldn’t carry on.”

It was a shame as up to that point Max had a great race and a finish in the points seemed likely.

The second race brought more disappointment as early on Max got a corner marker bollard stuck under the front of his car. The bollard had been knocked into the track by another driver and Max couldn’t avoid it. He had to make a pit stop to have it removed because with it stuck under the front, he lost all downforce from under the car and had to drastically slow down to stay on. Any chance of a good result had gone through no fault of Max’s. He rejoined the race to at least get a finish, but 26th was as high up as he could get.

Max and the Arena Motorsports team had been very encouraged by the performance at Silverstone, despite the results, and now look forward to continuing the progress at Thruxton in two weeks time.