James Jakes clawed his way through the F3 Euro Series field to score a top five finish in the first race of the weekend at Barcelona.

The British driver had started in the middle of the field due to an accident in qualifying, but he made his way through the order in treacherous conditions to move back into fourth place in the prestigious championship.

Jakes made the majority of his places up at the start, as he found traction while several of his rivals struggled to control wheelspin on the soaked track.

He made his way past Edoardo Piscopo under braking for Turn 1 to snatch sixth place on lap 10, and although championship leader Romain Grosjean was able to take the place a few laps later, Jakes moved back up to fifth as others made mistakes ahead of him.

The 20-year-old was happy with his race though, as he had scored more points than he expected he would.

“We’ve got to be happy with that,” he said. “The car was quick, and we’ve scored good points. We’re now tied in fourth in the championship again, and we’ve got a good chance to take the place tomorrow.

The reverse grid rules in the Euro Series mean that Jakes will start fourth for the second race of the weekend, which takes place on Sunday morning, and the Manor Motorsport driver is optimistic that he can finish the weekend off with another good result.

“We’re set up well to get a good points haul from this weekend now,” he added. “I don’t mind if it’s wet or dry tomorrow, because the car is quick in all conditions. Now we’ve just got to wait and see what we can do.”

Italian driver Edoardo Mortara won the race on Saturday, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg and Grosjean, who extended his championship lead as Sebastien Buemi retired from the race after making an error at the first corner.