Billericay racing driver Matt Davies showed why he is rated as a star of the future by storming into the top six in the British Grand Prix's Formula 3 support race.

Davies, 22, was last week named in a national newspaper as one of five of the country's likely heirs to Damon Hill, was one of the big movers in a Saturday afternoon race at Silverstone.

Qualifying just didn't go Davies's way and he was denied a likely spot in the top four when he was baulked by an inattentive backmarker. "I was chipping away, finding three or four-tenths of a second on each lap," he explained.

"I thought I had done a mega lap on the last one but then I got caught behind someone. I'm certain that lap would have put me on the second row of the grid."

But it didn't and Matt was forced to start his Fortec Motortsport Dallara-Mugen Honda F399 from ninth on the grid. Even so, he had battled through to seventh by two-thirds distance.

Davies clawed his way onto the tail of Toby Scheckter, son of 1979 World Champion Jody, before passing the South African less than a mile from the finish.

"Everyone started making mistakes, and I didn't," said Davies. "It's just absolutely impossible to overtake at Silverstone, because before every long straight is a fast corner.

''That means that you lose downforce from the car in front and it's difficult to keep up behind them''.

The result consolidates Davies's sixth position in the overall championship standings and his second spot behind Jenson Button in the Rookie of the Year rankings.

That could all change for the better in the next round on July 25 at Snetterton, a circuit at which he has been flying in testing.

"If we get the car right and qualify well, we'll be looking good." Davies predicts.

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