It marked the second time in two successive weekends that Narain had stood on the prize winners podium. Just seven days before, the 22-year-old had become the first Indian to taste success at this level in the sport, when he drove his Kingfisher and Opel backed Dallara 397/8 car to third place in Belgium.

Narain's result at Silverstone was all the more significant because it was gained under very difficult track conditions. ``There was light rain, enough to make the track very slippery, but not enough for us to use heavily treaded wet weather tyres. It meant that the car was sliding around a lot,'' said Narain. ``The track conditions changed every lap and it was difficult to judge just where to brake the for the corners each time.''

Narainstarted the race from seventh place after his team had worked non-stop to repair his car after a midweek testing accident when a slower car had moved into his path at maximum speed. ``It was a lot of work for the team but it meant that we hadn't had as much time on the track as the opposition to fine tune the car,'' said Narain.

That was nothing however compared to the drama in the opening corners of the race. ``I got a good start and was up to sixth place when I saw two of the cars in front of me touch and spin round in the middle of the track. I was half expecting something like this so I had given myself some room on the approach to the corner and I squeezed through a gap on the inside.''

For the remainder of the 80km, 22-lap race, Narain closed in on the leader Mario Heberfeld of Brazil. But he couldn't find a way past the second placed man Kristian Kolby of Denmark, despite driving wheel to wheel at speeds well over 200 kph.

``Kristian is a very experienced racer and although I got my front wheelalongside his rear wheel a couple of times, he would position his car perfectly to stop me getting past,'' said Narain. ``It was a great battle but it was a pity I could not find a way through.''

Narain's results this season have already moved him one step closer to his dream of being the first Indian driver to race in a Formula-One Grand Prix. As one of the top 20 Formula-Three drivers in the world, he has been invited to join the field for the prestigious Macau Grand Prix on Nov 22. ``Its a great honour to be invited, because that is a form of recognition in itself. It also offers a chance for people across Asia to see me drive because the race is shown live on TV,'' said Narain.