Image: Supplied.

A hard-fought eighth place finish at round two of the Moto3 World Championship has left team LevelUp-MTA’s Joel Kelso with a sense of confidence and encouragement following the Argentine GP on Sunday.

The 21-year-old put in a strong come-from-behind performance after being subject to two long-lap penalties, incurred following his involvement in a late-race collision at the opening round in Buriram.

Despite the penalties, Kelso would post some of the fastest laps of the race in the dying stages, clawing his way up into eighth place by the time the chequered flag flew.

“Overall, it was a positive race,” recalled Kelso. “With the two long laps [penalities], we lost about six seconds, but we were still able to catch up to the leading group. In the last laps, I pushed to the maximum and set one of my fastest laps of the race despite heavily worn tires.

“The weekend was very encouraging, and we have shown that we can consistently fight at the front.”

After two races, Kelso sits 12th in the Moto3 overall standings, with the next round scheduled to take place at the Circuit of the Americas on March 28-31.