Australian Joseph Mawson continued a stunning podium run during his debut in the French Formula 4 Championship at Le Mans.

Mawson started the weekend by securing pole position for his maiden car racing before the karting graduate went on to win the opening 20 minute encounter on Saturday.

With the grid for race two being a reversal of the top ten finishing positions from the opener, Mawson started from the fifth row of the grid.

After steadily moving up the order, Mawson found himself in fourth position before making a last lap pass to secure his second podium finish of the weekend.

Starting from the front row alongside Felix Hirsiger, Mawson made a sluggish start to the final 11-lap encounter in wet conditions and dropped to fifth place as a consequence.

As the race continued Mawson edged his way towards the front before showing superior speed over his rivals in the closing stages.

He managed to  relieve Lasse Sorensen of the lead with a handful of laps remaining.

After passing Sorensen on the outside entering the fastest turn on the circuit in the wet, the CAMS Foundation-backed driver fended off the Danish driver in the following corners before clearing off to claim the win by 1.3s.

“I came into the weekend aiming for a top eight result, then after getting pole on Friday my aim went up to finishing inside the top five,” said Mawson.

“The second race was crazy but also a lot of fun. I found out how difficult it was to pass in single seaters but kept my cool made my way through.

Mawson indicated that he has been overwhelmed by the support from Australia over the weekend.

“It’s been great to hear from everyone back home. I’d particularly like to thank Geoff Morgan, Gwenda Searle and the CAMS Foundation for their support,” said Mawson.

“I’m very proud to be representing Australia and hope that this is the start of a great year.”

The French Formula 4 Championship continues in two weeks time at the Circuit de Pau.