Bratt Meets F1 heroes at Silverstone
Adderbury racing driver Will Bratt got a glimpse of what his future could have in store for him at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit yesterday, having been invited to the venue as an exclusive guest of the World Championship-leading Renault F1 Team.The 17-year-old student, who races in the hugely popular Formula Renault UK Championship with Michelin junior single-seater category, received the invite as a mid-season prize for leading the B4 Group ‘Graduate Cup’ division of the national series - a championship within a championship for young, inexperienced drivers.After taking an ultra-rare guided tour of the Renault F1 Team’s own pit garage, Will was then lucky enough to meet with Formula One World Championship leader, Spaniard Fernando Alonso, and Renault F1 Team test-driver, Finland’s Heikki Kovalainen.A former Formula Renault competitor himself, Kovalainen won the highly competitive Nissan World Series Championship in 2004 and as a member of the prestigious Renault Driver Development Programme is now the series leader of the new GP2 class, the final stepping-stone before Formula One. As if all that wasn’t enough, Will also took lunch with the Renault F1 Team to cap a truly memorable day in his young racing career. Speaking on the visit, he said: “It was a fantastic opportunity to see behind the scenes of a working Formula One team and I’d like to thank Renault UK and the Renault F1 Team for making the day possible.“It was superb meeting a Grand Prix winner like Fernando and I enjoyed being allowed inside the pit garages with the team at work. There’s so much more to Formula One than just the drivers and the cars and it was an amazing chance to see how much hard work goes in to the preparation. It’d be great to race in F1 one day.”Fresh from his last-gasp victory during Sunday’s European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring in Germany, Alonso now heads the driver standings by a healthy 32 points from McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen. Incidentally, the Finn himself graduated to the pinnacle of motorsport after winning the Formula Renault UK title in 2000.Will’s attention now, however, must turn from the F1 test visit – and his regular college work – to the fifth and sixth rounds of the Formula Renault UK Championship with Michelin where he hopes to extend his nine point lead in the B4 Group Graduate Cup over nearest rival, Dutchman Dave van den Heuvel.The championship resumes for action this weekend at the world-famous Brands Hatch Indy Circuit on Saturday, 4th June, and Sunday, 5th June, but Will has an opportunity to get some vital track time under his belt at the Kent venue tomorrow morning, Thursday, 2nd June, during official testing.“I’m looking forward to racing at Brands Hatch”, added Will. “We know it’ll be a tough weekend but I’m confident if we can have a good test session tomorrow, we’ll be in good shape for the races.”