Peña topped the timesheets in almost all the practice sessions and demonstrated it was no fluke by taking pole position in qualifying.

In the first race of the weekend, which was a rerun of the rained off Round Six from the June event also held at the Zhuhai Circuit, Peña was supposed to start from the second row but a brand new battery failed and he was forced to start last.

In a very wet race, the 18-year-old Filipino ended his race on the first lap when he skated off the track. Fellow Team Goddard driver LouMeng Cheong of Macau saved the day by finishing first in the Promotions Class while teammate Don Tacos finished an unexpected fourth from last on the grid.

The enigmatic Tacos, who acts as the team’s test driver, runs in the Team’s Dallara 301 car in order to ensure Peña has a backup car at his disposal.

Pena’s pole position for Round Seven came to naught when he was hit from behind on the first turn and pushed off into the gravel, resulting in another DNF.

In Round Eight, Peña again started from the back of the grid and set off on a great drive through the field. Unfortunately, it came to nothing when he clashed with Pepon Marave as both cars were eliminated on the spot. That meant another start from last place in the ninth round, which saw him recover to fifth place.

"Dado is developing into a very fast race driver, as his pole position demonstrates, and if we can just have no bad luck then he can easily dominate a whole race weekend," remarked team proprietor Mark Goddard.

LouMeng, meanwhile, added two seconds and a third place in the Promotions Class to his win. The Frestech-supported team was happy with his performance and it is hoped he will return for further runs with the team.

Sentul, Indonesia is the next venue for Asian Formula Three and Peña is confident his luck will change in the next leg.