On his local circuit, the Parisian claimed third position on the grid and then raced with the leaders for much of the wet 25-lap race.

After winning an early-race battle for third, Panciatici was just over a second adrift of the lead with 10 laps remaining when a small mistake caused him to run through the gravel. He got back onto the circuit, which formerly hosted the French Grand Prix, to take an excellent fourth place and score valuable championship points.

Russian team-mate Daniil Move suffered an incident early in the qualifying session, which damaged the underside of the floor of the car. With insufficient time to repair the car he had to continue with the damage and took 19th on the grid. He made a superb start to run 12th and, after battling his way up to 11th, he dropped back again to take 12th place at the finish.

Junior Lotus Racing team manager Peter Crolla said: “Nelson was occupying the top slots in very mixed conditions in testing on Friday and looked fully in control, and today he carried on from that.

“He did a good job in qualifying. It rained overnight so the track was damp for the start of qualifying. Nelson was never out of the top six and improved throughout. In the race he ran very well, but although he closed the gap on the leading pair he didn’t quite have enough to pass.

“Daniil’s flow was disrupted in qualifying when he went off. He made a fantastic start to the race, made up five places in the first few corners and raced consistently in a competitive pack, just outside the points.”

With spirits buoyed by today’s result, the Wellingborough-based team is looking forward to tomorrow’s race, which features mandatory pit-stops.

“We had a very strong performance today,” added Crolla. “We know that the two drivers have competitive cars beneath them so we’re looking forward to another good result.”