BRITISH GP3 rookie Alice Powell showed maturity and focus, bouncing back with a fine 12th place finish in the second of her weekend races for the Status Grand Prix team at the famous Spa circuit.

Engine issues meant Alice had limited qualifying time and she was a disappointing 20th on the grid.

She got off to a poor start in Race One on Saturday afternoon, but she was fighting her way through the field well when the race was brought to a premature end in the wake of the crash by Ocean Racing Technology's Robert Cregan. Alice was placed 18th.

She again had a difficult start in Race Two on Sunday morning, falling to 21st, but Alice kept her head down and showed great speed to pull through the field.

Three laps from the end she pulled off a brave move on team-mate Stockinger and Mitch Evans to secure 12th position. She was quickly catching Alex Brundle, but ran out of time before the chequered flag.

“It was a really mixed weekend for us,” said Alice. “It was my first time driving at Spa and I absolutely love the track.

“We had a number of issues at the start of the weekend, and then the red flag and ultimate stopping of race one ruined my chances of a good position.

“I made a shocking start in race two, but the car was good and I knew that I had to be brave and pull off some moves. You can get a good tow on the straights here at Spa and so I went for it.

“I wanted to achieve a good result for my sponsors, the team and myself. It is a shame about my start as we could have had a top ten finish, but I am pleased with our final result and the weekend ended well.”