Gennaro Bonafede is only in his second year of racing in the Bridgestone Production Car yet he ended each season in the top three.

In 2010, he stunned seasoned campaigners by finishing as runner-up to multiple champion Graeme Nathan. Compared to this year, it was a fairly easy season as everything ran according to plan. 2011 was somewhat different and he says it was harder to get third place than it was to take the runner-up slot.

The Ferodo liveried Volkswagen Golf 5 GTI was starting to show its age and a new Golf 6 was built during the mid-season break. As with the best plans in motorsport things didn't quite go according to schedule and with some components of the old car being used in the new, there was no option but to find a car at short notice that wasn't being used.

The interim car, to put it mildly, wasn't up to the task of finishing in the top three and for three races results were rather thin. The new car showed a vast improvement, but as race engineer Vic Maharaj pointed out, "it needed more development and there simply wasn't time."

At the final round last Saturday Bonafede's Golf suffered a rare engine failure in the opening race and it looked as though further racing, and third place, were over. Then Nathan's teammate Reghard Roets was precluded from racing the last two races of the day so the car was offered to Bonafede. Naturally he grabbed the opportunity with both hands.

Despite never have driven the car before, and not quite getting the seating position right, the Monster Energy athlete drove two superb races to finish third each time. That was enough to keep third place in the championship. "Not a bad ending to the day, considering I was in a borrowed car and started each race from the back of the grid. Even though the year ended badly, we're still third in the Championship."

The racing might be over for a few months, but Bonafede has plans to keep his reactions sharp. "I'm going to chill ... and see what happens!"