.........during Donington Test
Teenage racing driver Will Bratt heads into the biggest race meeting of his career at Donington Park this weekend, 10th/11th September, with high hopes after a pleasing test session at the Leicestershire venue this morning.Rounds 15 and 16 of the Formula Renault UK Championship with Michelin will take place on the 2.5-mile Grand Prix layout on Sunday as part of the World Series by Renault festival – with a crowd of over 100,000 motorsport enthusiasts expected.During today’s four-hour test session for the Formula Renault UK regulars, 17-year-old Will recorded the 15th fastest time with a best lap of 1m 31.518 seconds (98.34mph), just over a second shy of the quickest time of all set by multiple race winner Sean McIntosh.The tricky GP layout of the circuit, which Will has never competed on before, certainly caught out some of the more experienced drivers and Will was happy to end the test faster than the likes of championship contender Sebastian Hohenthal, who could only manage the 18th fastest time out of 26 drivers taking part.Will was also only a mere three 100ths of a second slower than Oulton Park podium finisher Rodolfo Gonzalez and he’s now confident he can approach qualifying on Saturday with a very positive attitude and deliver good results for his Scorpio Motorsport team, based just a few miles from Donington in Swithland, Loughborough.“It took us a while to get going this morning but when we finally started getting into a bit of a groove the lap times started falling and I was quite pleased to set 1m 31.518 seconds”, commented Will.“To be quicker than guys like Hohenthal is fantastic and I’m pretty confident we can find some more time in qualifying to push ourselves further up the grid. On quite a few occasions during the test, people like Hohenthal were following me but didn’t make any impression in terms of catching me so that’s given me a boost.“We need a good result this weekend as with just six races left this season it’s reached a critical point in the championship where we have to put Richard (Keen – B4 Group Graduate Cup leader) under as much pressure as possible.”Heading into the 15th and 16th rounds of the season, Will is just six points adrift of Keen in the Graduate Cup standings and is currently 15th overall in the full Formula Renault UK rankings, during his debut season of single-seater racing.Qualifying for round 15 is scheduled to begin at 09.50 on Saturday with round 16 qualifying set to commence at 14.35. On Sunday, round 15 will be the opening race of the day at 09.00 with round 16 set to begin at 16.45 – immediately after a Renault F1 Team demonstration involving the legendary Rene Arnoux.Will Bratt Championship Position:
B4 Group Graduate Cup Class – 2nd overallFormula Renault UK Championship with Michelin – 15th overall
