Formula Renault UK sensation Will Bratt enjoyed a productive official test
at Snetterton Circuit in Norfolk today to emerge as the third fastest driver,
the 19-year-old utilising the marathon seven hours of track time to prepare for
the championship finale which will take place at Thruxton in Hampshire on
13th/14th October.
The Apotex Scorpio Motorsport ace, who has recently been named a BRDC
Rising  Star, heads into the final two races of the 2007 season a strong third
overall in the championship standings and after ending today’s test with a best
lap of 1m 04.863 seconds (108.33mph), Will has high hopes of challenging for a
brace of podium finishes in less than a fortnight.
Like fellow championship front-runners Duncan Tappy, Dean Smith and Riki
Christodoulou, Banbury-based Will spent large chunks of today’s Snetterton
outing working on settings for the final two rounds of the season at Thruxton
and in doing so all four competitors ran special ‘Thruxton’ tyres which meant
those particular lap times were not recorded officially.
Lapping with a time of 1m 05.517 seconds (107.25mph) during the morning,
Will improved by a full seven 10ths of a second in the afternoon to end the test
third fastest overall and with a great deal of set-up work completed, the whole
Loughborough-based Apotex Scorpio squad is feeling rightfully confident for a
successful conclusion to the current campaign.
“This test was an ideal opportunity for us to run on Thruxton tyres ahead
of the last two rounds to get some valuable feedback”, commented Will,
“Hopefully today’s work will help put us in the best possible position to be on
the podium and hopefully challenge for wins.
“We were fast all day today, during the morning we only completed about two
thirds the number of laps the majority of other front-runners did and yet we
were still very quick. We’re all delighted with how today has gone
actually.”
The Oxford University scholar added: “This afternoon we ran a low downforce
setting in preparation for Thruxton and were very pleased with our pace,
especially in relation to the others we’re battling with at the top of the
championship. I did get blocked on my two fastest runs at the end but otherwise
it’s been a very good day.”
The final two rounds of the 2007 Formula Renault UK Championship will take
place next weekend, 13th/14th October, at the ultra-fast Thruxton Circuit in
Hampshire.
Provisional 2007 Formula Renault UK Standings (after Rd18 – inc.
drop scores)
1st Duncan Tappy, 451pts; 2nd Dean Smith, 444pts;
3rd Will Bratt, 380pts
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