BRATT’S PROMISING CROFT WEEKEND DEALT A BLOWAdderbury teenager Will Bratt left Croft Circuit this evening with a bitter taste in his mouth after being forced out of the 10th round of the 2005 Formula Renault UK Championship with Michelin.The 17-year-old Scorpio Motorsport driver started the weekend in promising fashion after being the fastest of the B4 Group Graduate Cup contenders on Saturday during qualifying for both rounds nine and 10.He then went on to produce a strong drive in the first of Sunday’s races, finishing in 14th position after qualifying 17th on the grid overall. Not only that, Will also crossed the line four places ahead of Graduate Cup points leader Richard Keen and thus closed the gap in the title chase to just five points.After gaining a position on the opening lap of the race, Will moved into 15th place on lap four and then took 14th position three laps later to earn seven extremely valuable championship points and keep the Graduate Cup battle very much alive.“I made a good start and the car felt pretty good during the first few laps”, explained Will after the race. “I certainly had the pace on some of the drivers around me and it was good to finish several places ahead of Richard, who we need to pressurise.”Sadly, round 10 proved to be a completely different story for Will as he was faced with the frustration of failing to finish a race for the first time this year – but worse was the fact it was no fault of his own.“I was running reasonably well until Bradley Ellis tried an ill-judged move at the Hairpin, which caused a lot of damage to the rear left of my car”, said Will. “To make a pass there you have to be alongside someone but he was quite a way behind me and just went for it, which was completely the wrong thing to do and made no sense.“After he hit me I knew we had a lot of problems with the car and then the damaged bodywork caused me to have a puncture which forced me off the circuit at the Sunny In, Sunny Out corners.”Will added: “It’s very frustrating to fail to finish and is a missed opportunity as far as the Graduate Cup standings go. These things happen in motor racing though, and you have to just look forward to the following event. Snetterton is next on the calendar and I think we can expect to be in pretty good shape there.”Will maintains second position in the Graduate Cup, 11 points adrift of Richard Keen while in the overall Formula Renault UK standings he’s in 16th position. Following the upcoming three week break in the championship calendar, the series will resume at Snetterton Circuit in Norfolk on 6th/7th August.Will Bratt Championship Position:

B4 Group Graduate Cup Class – 2nd overallFormula Renault UK Championship with Michelin – 16th overall