Claygate's Sam Bird has retained his sixth place in the British International F3 series despite a disappointing weekend at Donington Park.

Free practice last Thursday saw him in an unrepresentative eighth place, while his Carlin team-mates also struggled to get to grips with the set-up for the Leicestershire circuit where Bird, 20, holds a lap record in Formula Renault.

"We had to change the set-up in time for Saturday's qualifying but we still didn't get it right, so I qualified in 11th and ninth places for the races on Sunday," he said.

"In Formula 3, qualifying is critical, as is getting a good start. Fortunately, I seem to be quite quick off the line, so I am hoping this will be the case and I can grab back a few places."

In the first race, Bird did make a good start, putting him up to seventh place, but another fast charger went wide, forcing Bird on to the grass.

He recovered but was back into 12th. In the closing laps of the race, Bird was able to overtake two of these to claim a championship point for 10th place.

The second race saw a few drops of rain, but certainly not enough for the teams to swap to wet tyres, although the track was slippery.

Again, from the start, Bird progressed from his ninth slot, but a series of incidents included a clip on his rear tyre, spinning him 360 degrees and dropping him to 23rd.

An amazing drive through the pack brought him back to where he started in ninth place by the end of the race.

"Naturally, I'm disappointed not to have gone further up the order" he said afterwards.

"But at least I was able to salvage some points and prove that overtaking in F3 is possible. I found the pace and was determined to retain my position in the championship table, which I have done.

"I am looking forward to the next round, which is a street race in Bucharest in May.

"It will be my first street race and although some of my rivals have done several, it will be the first time at Bucharest for all of us, so it should be a level playing field."

The BP Ultimate and perfect-nutrition sponsored driver will make an appearance at Mercedes-Benz World on May 12.