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Banbury race ace Will Bratt continued his maiden Formula 3 season in truly
breathtaking style at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium today, the 20-year-old
setting the quickest time during pre-event testing ahead of the weekend’s third
and fourth rounds of the 2008 FIAT Spanish F3 Championship.
Having never been to the world-famous Spa circuit before, Will certainly
faced an incredibly steep learning curve prior to today’s two short 30-minute
test sessions but he produced a typically exemplary performance to lead the way
half a second clear of his nearest rival on combined times.
Bedding himself, and his EmiliodeVillota.com Motorsport run Dallara car,
into the track over just 11 laps during this morning’s first session, the
British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) Rising Star then set about posting fast
times this afternoon where he achieved a best lap of 2m 19.364 seconds (180.899
km/h) – the quickest of the day.
“This morning we weren’t worried about times at all, I needed to learn the
track and we worked on some changes to the car”, explained Will, “With the
sessions so short and with lap times well over two minutes each in an F3 car, we
only had about 10 laps in which to get the car as we wanted it so that was quite
a tough challenge.
“In total we did less than 20 laps today but to emerge fastest, and by
quite a chunk of time too, is fantastic. We’re really very pleased, especially
as I’ve never been to Spa before. I’m happy with the way I drove the car today
and also with the great work the team has done.”
Producing his second timesheet-topping performance in as many pre-event
tests, Will having set the fastest practice time at Jarama in Spain ahead of the
opening two rounds of the championship at the start of May, the Oxford
University scholar now aims to translate today’s pace into a season’s best
qualifying performance.
He added: “Tomorrow is when it really counts. It was great to lead the way
today after such a short introduction to the track but we need to produce a
similar performance in qualifying tomorrow. I’m confident we should be able to
challenge for a spot on the first couple of rows on the grid. If we can, I think
we’ll be very strong in tomorrow’s race.”
Qualifying for the third round of the 2008 FIAT Spanish Formula 3
Championship will take place at 10.45 (local time) tomorrow, Saturday, 31st May,
at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. The first race of the weekend will follow at
15.35 with round four timetabled to start at 15.05 on Sunday, 1st June.
Provisional 2008 FIAT Spanish F3 Championship Driver Standings
(after Rd2):
1st Victor Garcia, 19pts; 2nd Jaime Alguersuari, 18pts;
6th Will Bratt, 11pts
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