Not content with 12th place on debut at Monaco, John Martin will now contest two more Formula Renault 3.5 races in the next four weeks.

With the A1GP series in recess until the Nitro SuperGP on the Gold Coast in October, Martin has signed on to again race with Martin Donnelly’s Comtec Racing at the Hungaroring, Hungary on June 13/14 and at Silverstone, UK on July 4/5.

The two World Series by Renault events dovetail nicely around the 24-year-old’s Superleague Formula commitments aboard the Alan Docking Racing engineered Glasgow Rangers FC entry at Magny Cours, France on June 27/28 and Zolder, Belgium on July 18/19.

It is a demanding schedule, four race meetings in six weeks, but the lad from Blackwater in outback Queensland is relishing the challenge.

“At the end of the day it is all seat time really, you can’t beat race laps,” said Martin. “The World Series by Renault is quite a good, competitive series. So it definitely can’t hurt.”

“The tyres are Michelin, the same as Superleague Formula and A1GP, and they work in a similar way.”

“At Monaco we had some issues with the car loosening up in the rear on turn-in which was a little bit like the A1 car and the Superleague car does a similar thing, although it is more in the way that you drive it.”

“The Michelin tyres across the three cars are all a very similar construction and compound so when it has a certain handling trait the way you cure it tends to be the same.”

Having stuck a toe in the water at Monaco, Martin admits he would like to race the remainder of the World Series by Renault season if it were possible.

“The other races clash with Superleague and I also have an A1 test in the middle of August,” said Martin. “A1 is my main priority so nothing can get in the way of that.”

Monaco proved a rollercoaster weekend for the 2006 Australian Formula Ford Champion; no sooner had he set the sixth fastest time in qualifying when the next lap he crashed at the Swimming Pool Chicane and had his fastest time cancelled for causing a red flag stoppage.

From 20th on the 26 car grid he scythed his way up to 12th in 25 laps of the street circuit widely acknowledged as the most difficult to pass on. In doing so Martin set the seventh fastest lap time and earned the series’ Hard Charger Award.

“That was tucked up behind people in traffic and I was only a couple of hundredths off what (Oliver) Turvey and (Adrian) Zaugg (first and second at Monaco) ran and they were in clean air at the front,” said Martin. “So that was not too bad, it gave me a bit of encouragement anyway.

“Like Monaco, I have never raced at Hungary before, so to try and learn the circuit I have been doing laps on the PlayStation and watching DVDs.”

“It is quite tight and twisty really and one of the few places where you run maximum downforce, so in that regard it is a little bit like Monaco.”

“Obviously Silverstone is a high speed circuit, whereas Hungary isn’t. They are both challenging and rewarding circuits to drive.”

“I am going to Hungary with no real expectations, just like Monaco. By the race the car was reasonably quick so we should be up there somewhere, inside the top 10 I think. If I am not inside the top 10 I will be disappointed.”

“Now I have a bit of knowledge of the car at least, even though at Monaco we didn’t really get too many laps. The setup changes there seemed to work so it seems like the car responds quite well to changes.”

“I have been talking to my engineer Ash (Edwards) and we have already started working on things that we could change or improve upon from Monaco, so it should be a step in the right direction.”