With the US Racing team, the Queenslander went from seventh to fourth in the first race. He started second in Race 2 and held his position until overtaken by his teammate Akshay Bohra in a move that had Beeton in the gravel, but able to continue in third.

He was then challenged Freddie Slater which ended in contact between the two at Tosa in the final stages. In Race 3 he had to defend his second spot from the start against the attacks of his teammate Maxim Rehm and was rewarded with the runner up spot.

“It was really disappointing in Race 2 to be taken out when we were in P3,” Beeton said.

“But we knew we had to bounce back. We just kept ahead, run our race and ended P2 in the end. I’m really pleased with the result. Obviously, I would have liked to score points in all three races, but a P4 and a P2, you can be happy with that.”

The other Australians that competed were Gianmarco Pradel (US Racing) and Kamal Mrad (PHM AIX Racing). Pradel was ninth in Race 1 before he has to retire in Race 2 with a puncture caused by contact. Mrad had contact on the first lap of the opening lap which forced him out and then followed 17th and 28th place finishes.

Also at Imola was the second round of the Porsche Carrera Cup Italia. Qualifying was impeded with red flag stoppages where Bayley Hall posted the best times of 16th and 18th.

In the first race, he charged up six spots to finish 10th place replicated the effort in Race 2 to 12th. But he was pushed out wide midway through the race and ultimately crossed the line 14th.

The GB3 Championship crossed the English Channel for the third round at Spa-Francorchamps. Patrick Heuzenroeder (JHR Developments) and Flynn Jackes (Chris Dittmann Racing) were the Aussies competing.

Heuzenroeder posted 20th best qualifying times for Races 1 and 2. In the opener the 18-year-old improved seven spots to 13th. The rain cleared on Saturday afternoon, Heuzenroeder executed a good start in Race 2. He  improved three positions into Turn 1, but suffered had an engine failure on Lap 2.

The car was fitted with a new engine overnight and he was able to move forward during the final race. He climbed nine spots to take 11th place in a contest that was dominated by safety car interruptions. A 5s post-race time penalty for exceeding track limits with advantage gain, dropped him from 11th to 14th.

Jackes qualified 16th for Race 1 and his second fastest time was good for 19th in the second race. He finished the first, one place further back. In the next he improved to 15th before he erred sufficiently to allow a couple of cars to get by. In the end he was 14th.

“Race three was good as the pace felt really strong, as we made a small change which really helped. I was stuck battling with Colin Queen and couldn’t get past him, and I feel like I could have made up two or three more places with the pace in the car, but it was a fun race,” Jackes said after his 10th place.

Taylor Gill and Daniel Brkic narrowed the points lead in the Junior World Rally Championship.At Rally Italia Sardegna, the FIA World Rally Championship third round, Taylor Gill and Daniel Brkic had a tough weekend, but narrowed the gap to the Junior World Rally Championship lead.

They finished sixth place after 16 gruelling stages and a couple of stage victories. They had multiple issues throughout, with a power steering failure early on Day 1 and a broken rear wheel bearing on Saturday which they suffered through the final five stages.

Gill finished as the second-highest FIA Rally Star competitor, behind South African Max Smart, while his main rivals in Romet Jürgenson and Jose Caparo were classified 14th and 15th.