KENT racer Mike Conway fought his way to a pair of strong fourth places and was unfortunate not to be put out of the running for a race win in the third British Formula 3 Championship race at Monza in Italy last weekend by a 100mph accident.

Fortec Motorsport driver Conway, 21, had never been to the Italian Grand Prix track before except for a short test at the end of last year.

Famously fast with a few mind-concentrating chicanes, Monza is revered by all who race there and is a real challenge for any driver, but Conway got to grips with the circuit remarkably quickly.

Despite not being overly happy with the set-up on his car in qualifying, reigning Formula Renault UK champion Conway, from Sevenoaks, qualified seventh and fourth for the first two Monza races.

Sunday morning’s third outing was a race cancelled from the Spa round earlier this year, for which Conway had qualified eighth.

“Qualifying was very frustrating,” explained Conway. I was losing about half a second every lap at the Ascari chicane and it was definitely a set-up problem, but it took a while to try and figure out where it was.”

In race one, Conway passed team-mate James Walker and Tim Bridgman at the first corner but got hit from behind by another car, having to bound over the grass. A lot of grass to collect in his car’s side pods, restricting the air intake to the engine and causing it to overheat for the rest of the race.

“The temperature was reaching 83 degrees at some points, and my engine was down on power by about 5mph on every straight from then on. So to get fourth place was good.”

Conway saw off challenges from Bridgman, who eventually retired, and Northern Irishman Steven Kane, whose suspension broke, pitching him into a spin at the first corner.

The Kent man showed his class, and his bravery, by passing two cars at the same time with an amazing dive up the inside at the famously daunting Parabolica curve, again having to take to the grass in the process.

By the end, he was still in touch with Dirani, who re-passed Conway, but the lack of power caused by the grass meant he was unable to make a serious challenge for third.

A slower start to race two meant Conway quickly found himself on the defence – Bridgman got alongside at the second chicane but was repelled, but Dirani got by at Parabolica. Although Conway initially harried Dirani, his Fortec car started slowly going off and he was forced to settle for another fourth place.

“It was a little disappointing,” he admitted. “I was really looking for two podium finishes but this was as good as we could have got today.”

The final race of the weekend came on Sunday morning, and was both the best and worst for Conway. On the one hand, the Kent charger had a storming first half of the race, scything through the field from eighth to second with a series of brilliant overtaking manoeuvres.

When he moved into second position, Conway already knew that if he kept the spot, he would be awarded the win, as leader Bridgman had been handed a penalty for cutting the chicanes.

But, in the thrilling three-car dice for second that ensued, Conway was collected by an out-of-control Dirani on the run to the second chicane, suffering a heavy impact with the other car and spinning into retirement.

“That was a real shame,” he said afterwards. “The car was really good that time, we had sorted out the set-up glitches we had. I caught the two leaders I’m sure I was quicker than them so it was a good chance. I saw Dirani go off the track to my left and then he just came back on right where I was driving. I was going pretty quickly at the time, probably over 100mph.”

The results leave Conway third in the British F3 Championship standings but he is now just 11 points behind second-placed Charlie Kimball.

Conway’s next outing will be at British Grand Prix circuit Silverstone on August 13/14. As well as the two races scheduled for that weekend, the last remaining race cancelled from Spa will also be run at the event.