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Double Race Winner Bratt Has High Oulton Park Hopes |
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Tuesday, 19 June 2007 |
Having thoroughly dominated rounds seven and eight of the 2007 Formula Renault UK Championship two weeks ago, taking a double pole position and faultless pair of race victories, Will Bratt heads to Oulton Park Island Circuit next weekend, 23rd/24th June, aiming to carry the momentum forward and continue his excellent run of form.
While some onlookers may have been a little surprised by the dominance displayed at Croft by Will and the Apotex Scorpio Motorsport team, the 19-year-old sensation and his Loughborough-based squad have always known it would be a matter of when, and not if, they would reach the top step of the podium this season.
Starting the year very strongly during winter testing and then
continuing their progress throughout the official pre-season tests, it
has only been sporadic misfortune which has meant the third-year
partnership with team bosses Jon Pettitt and Tony Trevor hasn’t brought
more wins so far this year.
With the double victory helping to lift Adderbury-based Will into fifth
position overall in the championship standings, confidence is high
within the team another good performance could well be on the cards
next weekend at Oulton Park during the ninth and 10th rounds of the
season.
Croft also marked the most successful weekend in the history of the
Apotex Scorpio squad, Will’s brace of wins helping lift the team into a
richly deserved third place in the entrant’s standings of the UK’s most
competitive one-make, single-seater series.
“Croft was an amazing weekend for us”, said Will, “Everything came
together perfectly and it proved to me how important a good qualifying
performance is. We’ve worked hard on improving our qualifying but we
know there’s plenty more hard work to do if we’re to continue
challenging at the front.”
Oulton Park, of course, was the scene of Will’s highly emotional maiden
Formula Renault UK race victory last season and ahead of next weekend’s
race meeting at the Cheshire venue the three-time category race winner
is feeling rightfully buoyant.
Unfortunately though, the Oxon teenager will be forced to miss
pre-event testing the day before the race meeting because of crucial
exams which form a key part of his History studies at the University of
Oxford’s Lincoln College.
While missing any track-time is frustrating for any racer, Will is all
too aware of the extreme importance of his education and so his exams
will quite rightly take precedence over the official test day on
Friday, 22nd June.
He added: “We’re really looking forward to Oulton Park, it marked a
breakthrough for us last year and we’ll be going all out to try and win
again this time. We’re not getting carried away with our Croft success
though, we know we need to try and find a couple more 10ths of a second
to enable us to consistently battle for wins.
“Missing the test will be a bit of a disadvantage for us but there are
always potential problems which can bite you during testing so at least
our car will be in top condition for the start of qualifying.”
Will’s first action at Oulton Park next weekend will therefore be
qualifying at 12.25 on Saturday, 23rd June, with the ninth round of the
season following at 17.05. Round 10 is then scheduled for 17.30 on
Sunday, 24th June, and will receive cable and digital satellite
television coverage via subscription broadcaster Setanta Sports 1.
Provisional 2007 Formula Renault UK Championship Standings (after Rds7&8)
1st Duncan Tappy, 230pts; 2nd Dean Smith 228pts; 5th Will Bratt, 153pts
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