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Wet Weather Gamble Doesn’t Pay Off For Bratt |
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Sunday, 13 August 2006 |
Formula Renault UK front-runner Will Bratt saw a bold gamble on car set-up fail to pay off during round 14 qualifying at Snetterton this afternoon when expected rain showers failed to materialise at the Norfolk circuit.
Prior to the second of today’s two qualifying sessions, a team decision was taken in the Scorpio Motorsport camp to run both of its cars with wet-weather settings but as the track remained almost completely dry for the entire session, Will knew he had a real fight on his hands if he was to have any hope of qualifying close to the top 10.
The 18-year-old’s best lap during round 14 qualifying, 1m 05.906 seconds (106.62mph), was good enough to place him 13th on grid for the second of tomorrow’s races but in the earlier round 13 session there was slightly better news with Will’s lap of 1m 05.912 seconds (106.61mph) qualifying him in 11th position.
Ahead of Sunday’s two races at Snetterton, the Adderbury-based sensation is seventh overall in the Formula Renault UK Championship standings and while he will have his work cut out to break into the top six in the points table this weekend, Will is confident the races will reap much greater rewards than today’s brace of qualifying outings.
Commenting on his day, the Apotex Pharmaceuticals-backed star said: “We gambled on thinking it was going to rain quite heavily part way
through the second qualifying session so we decided to go with a
wet-weather set-up but, unfortunately for us, the rain stayed away for
almost all of the session so we faced an uphill battle from the start.
“But taking that into account, to end up just half a second outside the
pole position time isn’t too bad and we’ll be looking to make amends
during the races. Starting round 13 from 11th on the grid isn’t the
best but I’m confident we’ll have strong race pace and be able to
challenge for some good points tomorrow.”
Round 13 of the Formula Renault UK Championship will take place at
11.40 tomorrow, Sunday, 13th August, with round 14 expected to follow
at 15.45. Both races will be shown live on Motors TV, channel 413 of
the Sky Digital platform and through cable provider NTL on channel 173.
2006 Formula Renault UK Championship Provisional Driver Standings (after rounds 11&12):
| Points |
Driver |
Points |
| 1st |
Patrick Hogan |
286 |
| 2nd |
Sebastian Hohenthal |
284 |
| 3rd |
Cheng Cong Fu |
229 |
| 7th |
Will Bratt |
183 |
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 06 January 2007 )
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