|
EmiliodeVillota.com Motorsport’s Will Bratt raced strongly at Albacete in
south eastern Spain this morning, Sunday, 29th June, to secure a battling top
seven finish in the sixth round of the 2008 FIAT Spanish Formula 3
Championship.
The Banbury based 20-year-old, who started the race from 13th on the grid
after a difficult fifth round of the campaign on Saturday afternoon, moved into
ninth place on the opening lap and gained a further position on the third tour
at the expense of experienced F3 racer Christian Ebbesvik.
Tucked up behind Spanish driver German Sanchez Flor for almost the entirety
of the rest of the 16-lap race, Will was able to get past on the final tour
to secure a seventh place finish. Following the sixth round of the season, the
British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) Rising Star is now eighth in the
championship standings.
“Seventh isn’t a bad result at all today from 13th on the grid”, commented
Will, “There were a couple of incidents at the start, we managed to avoid those
and make up some places but for the majority of the race the order was pretty
unchanged. We set the fifth fastest race lap while in traffic so, again, we
showed we have race-winning pace.
“Albacete is a very tough circuit to overtake on, especially in a Formula 3
car. You need a good car aerodynamically out of the last corner but if you go
too far that way on set-up, you compromise yourself down the straights. I think
with another couple of laps we could have been in the top five as some of the
cars ahead were getting a bit out of shape.”
In further news at Albacete this morning, officials, competitors, teams and
spectators observed one minute of silence in memory of former Spanish rallying
great Pep Bassas who passed away this weekend at the age of 47 following a long
illness.
Returning to Spanish F3 action, there are now four weeks to wait until the
seventh and eighth rounds of the 2008 championship which will take place on the
brand new Valencia street circuit over the weekend 26th/27th July.
Marking the first time racing cars will have taken to the phenomenal new
venue, the Spanish F3 event will actually be utilised as something of a
rehearsal for Formula One’s European Grand Prix which will take place at the
street circuit in late August.
“I’m really looking forward to the next race, the Valencia street track
should be awesome and it will be good to race at another Formula One venue”,
said Will, “Hopefully we can get our season fully back on track there and
achieve some major points.”
Provisional 2008 FIAT Spanish F3 Championship Driver Standings
(after Rd6):
=1st Bruno Mendez, Nicola De Marco & Nil
Montserrat, 35pts; 8th Will Bratt, 24pts
|
