Conway not disappointed by first day.

British F3 Championship points leader Mike Conway admitted that he had been surprised, but not overwhelmed, by his step up to the GP2 Series at Silverstone, claiming that 20th on the grid for Saturday's feature race was about what he had expected.

In front of an interested F1 paddock, and with a record Friday crowd following his debut, Conway replaced the injured Olivier Pla - who broke bones in his hand and wrist at Monaco - at the DPR Direxiv team, but had little time to get up to speed with just half an hour of practice preceding the single qualifying session.

"He did a solid job and applied himself well," race engineer Chris Gorne commented, "He dialled himself in slowly this morning and felt his way round the track rather than trying to prove his worth in just one or two laps."

Although conditions were favourable, Conway knew that qualifying was going to be a challenge, with 25 others cars on track all chasing a quick lap.

"I knew it was going to be tough, especially with limited running, but it was good," the Briton reported, "The more I learn now, the better it is for the future. I'm sure the race will be better than today as long as we keep doing what we're doing and going in the right direction. I'm aiming for a top ten finish, but we'll see how the race pans out.

"It's a big leap between F3 and GP2 here, especially the power, brakes and grip. It's a heavier car, so you have to be bit sharper with correcting. Maggots and Becketts are really fast in the GP2 car, and it will be interesting to see how close you can follow others through there. I knew it was going to be very different and very tough so I'm not too disappointed with where I am after qualifying."