Racing in the opening round at French Grand Prix circuit Magny Cours, Dolby was immediately at the forefront on his debut for new team Tottenham Hotspur.

After qualifying in fourth, Dolby reached the finish in third behind Spanish winner Adrian Vallés, driving for Liverpool in this global hybrid of football and motor racing.

Despite starting the next race in 16th because of the reversed grid system, the Melton driver was again threatening the podium when mechanical problems dropped him down the field.

Having fought his way through to fifth on the last lap, system pressure failure left him without gears and relegated him to 10th.

But the results left Dolby (21) in fourth place in the overall championship standings - 21pts behind leaders Liverpool – after the opening two races in the 12-race championship.

It is a vast improvement in fortunes compared with the opening round of last season when his Anderlecht car failed to finish either race at his home circuit of Donington Park.

He said: "I didn't stop correctly in my pit box for the tyre change in the opening race. But on new tyres I was able to push hard and recover the places.

"I pressed the Anderlecht car hard for second place but came up short. Nevertheless I'm very proud to give Spurs a rostrum finish on my debut for them.

"But then in race two, having moved up from 16th place due to the reverse grid formation, I was challenging for fourth place, my car suffered a system pressure failure three laps from home causing me to slip back five places to 10th.

"That was gutting because it not only meant I missed out on the Super Final but cost me some valuable points."