JAY Gardner was left contemplating his future in Caterham racing after a controversial opening round at Silverstone.

Although the 29-year-old from Barrowford finished on the podium in his second race, he was later penalised 10 seconds and forced to hand back his trophy for third place “The weekend started badly and just got worse,” said Gardner.

“Although we were on the pace all weekend, the driving is very, very aggressive. There’s absolutely no quarter given and the slightest mistake by anyone results in an accident.”

Gardner, who won the Caterham Academy last season, was making his debut in the Roadsports B Championship, effectively the next rung on the ladder.

Contesting two races over two days at the Grand Prix circuit, Gardner got off to a good start by qualifying sixth for the opening heat.

With less than a second separating the top eight drivers, he was up to second before finally coming home in eighth – and scoring the second fastest lap time.

But race two was more contentious. In the running for a top five finish on the final lap, Gardner and two rivals went into the Luffield corner three abreast.

“There was a coming together with the car next to me and he spun off. I thought he turned into me and even the race commentator reckoned it was a 50-50 racing accident,” explained Gardner.

“I finished third and made it onto the podium, and felt pretty chuffed when I got the trophy. However, I was later summoned to see the clerk of the course who didn’t agree with my interpretation. I was docked 10 seconds, which effectively demoted me to eighth.

“When I got back to the paddock I was all ready for jacking it in. It was more like banger racing and my car now looks very second hand. However, after sleeping on it, I’ve decided to do the next round at Castle Combe on May Bank Holiday weekend and make a decision after that.”