British F3 driver Rodolfo Gonzalez competed on Bucharest's street circuit last weekend - a course that took in the city centre and circled the presidential palace.

British F3 driver Rodolfo Gonzalez competed on Bucharest's street circuit last weekend - a course that took in the city centre and circled the presidential palace.

It was the first time the race had been staged in the city and the Attleborough racer, along with his 30 other competitors, took the opportunity for free practice on the Thursday, in dry conditions.

By the following day, however, rain struck, which made the qualifying sessions difficult.

Gonzalez battled hard around the street circuit and in race one and moved from 16th place up to 10th at the flag, while in race two he battled with championship leader Marco Asmer and finished fifth, before a six second penalty moved him back to 10th place. Both races saw the safety car out while wreckage was removed from the track.

“I think it was a difficult weekend for me and the T-Sport team,” said Gonzalez. “Qualifying was not so great but we did improve the car for both races which made life a lot easier.”

Following the time penalty, he added: “So far I have not seen any evidence on which the race steward made his decision to penalise me so I find the whole situation very strange and we are in a process of making an appeal.”

The British F3 moves back to the UK with the next races at Snetterton, on Sunday, June 3.