Eastleigh motor racing starlet Shane Kelly hopes to get back on track after narrowly missing out on drives in the British Formula 3 Championship in 2001 and 2002.

The former award-winning graduate from the Silverstone Racing School has tested a Formula Renault at Brands Hatch with a view to racing the winter series - and raised eyebrows by clocking times just six tenths of a second slower than the series champion.

But when the Eastleigh-based Jensen Motorsport contacted Kelly, he signed for them. "I chose them because of the team being so local and as it's their first outing in the Renault Championship and I can also help them with set up," he explained.

Also joining the team is Rodger Parks, a top F3 race engineer who has worked with Formula Ford and Saloon Cars.

Kelly owes his return to racing to new sponsor David Snape of Southern Woodwork who specialises in importing and selling woodwork machinery. Kelly is engineer for David's son, Ashley, in the Honda Cadet Kart Championship.

The Eastleigh driver, who won two national Formula 3 races in 2001, is also being backed by Vee Ganjavian of Microlink plc, a company specialising in supplying computer systems, specialised software and peripherals to students with special needs such as dyslexia.