SHANGHAI, April 13 -- China's late entry Cheng Congfu yesterday promised to make amends this weekend for his rusty performance for Team China during previous A1 Grand Prix races.

Cheng, 23, is back in the driver's seat for China after a five-month lay-off from the championships and is replacing regular driver Tung Ho-pin, who left for GP2, a feeder series to Formula One.

The former Mclaren Mercedes youth development driver said he needed no more than a few practice laps to get into the groove at the Shanghai International Circuit.

"It has been some time since my last race in the series and Shanghai's racetrack is also new to me.

"But I am optimistic that after Friday practices I should be able to settle down," said Cheng, who represented China in the World Cup of Motorsports in the opening four rounds of the 2006-07 A1 season last fall before a disastrous showing at the home circuit ended his run.

Cheng earned eight points during that brief stint, which culminated in a fourth-place finish at the Czech Grand Prix last October. But a chaotic showing on the streets of Beijing last November cost him the job.

"I had a very bad weekend in Beijing," said Cheng, who crashed out after four laps. "There were a lot of lessons to learn there as a racer but I'm sure things will be better this time around."

Tung, 25, took over from Cheng and enjoyed a fairly good run, including a third-place finish at the New Zealand GP in February - China's only appearance on the podium.

But the Dutch-born Chinese speedster announced last week that he was heading to Bahrain for the prestigious GP2 series.

Cheng has reasons to be confident though - the Beijing native won both the national class races at the British F3 Championship as a rookie driver.

The national class of the British F3 series is proving to be an ideal ground for graduates from the lower racing formula - in Cheng's case Formula Renault - and is seen as a stepping stone to the more prestigious championship class.

"The recent victories have proven his blistering form," said Guang Yunke, Team China director.

"That's why we brought him back to give Shanghai fans a real racer."

Twenty-two nations have entered for the Shanghai race with practice rounds, scheduled for today.

Germany is 27 points clear of second-placed New Zealand and could win the series on Sunday. China is in the 15th place with 21 points.

The Shanghai round is the penultimate race of the season.