AT MAGNY-COURS
PartyPokerRacing.it Euroseries 3000 Championship front-runner Will Bratt narrowly escaped the biggest accident of his motor racing career at Magny-Cours in France, , Sunday, 28th June, when his steering failed at 150mph.
The 21-year-old, who lives in Banbury, Oxon, got his weekend off to an excellent start on Saturday with his second rostrum visit of the campaign to move into equal third in the driver standings. The mechanical failure in Sunday’s fourth round, however, resulted in the highly-rated British racer crashing out on lap 15. He has, though, managed to retain a position in the championship top four.
It is currently unclear why the malfunction occurred but Will’s EmiliodeVillota.com Motorsport team is looking into the potential causes. From the start of the race, Will noticed a vibration which compromised his pace and braking so he wasn’t able to run the sort of lap times he proved he was capable of during the third round on Saturday.
Lining up sixth on the grid for round four, Will moved ahead of GP2 Asia Series driver Earl Bamber on the opening lap and then gained a further place on the second tour following the retirement of Michael Dalle Stelle, a spin for the latter triggering a huge accident for Fabrizio Crestani.
Realising he didn’t have the pace to challenge the three cars ahead due to the ever-worsening vibration he was experiencing in his Lola, Will still brilliantly held on to his top four placing but on lap 15 the steering failed while he was travelling at around 150mph, forcing an instant retirement. He was classified seventh in the final race result, one place outside the top six points-paying positions.
“We’re obviously very disappointed with the way the weekend has finished as, if we hadn’t had the problem with the steering, I’m certain we could have fought for the win on Sunday”, said the British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) Rising Star, “From the start I felt a vibration which got worse and worse but we still managed to stay in fourth.
“There was no way I could run the pace of the top three though which was frustrating as I beat all of those guys on Saturday so I know, without the problem, we could have been looking at our first win of the season. Overall though, it’s not been a bad weekend with the race one podium. Now I’m really looking forward to Donington a month from now, it’ll be great to race on a track I know pretty well.”
Rounds five and six of the season at Donington Park will potentially be the biggest races of the season so far, the event at the East Midlands venue marking the only time this year Will is going to be competing on home soil. The race meeting will take place over the weekend 1st/2nd August.
2009 PartyPokerRacing.it Euroseries 3000 Championship Standings (after Rd4):1st Marco Bonanomi, 21pts; 2nd Fabrizio Crestani, 20pts; 3rd Fabio Onidi, 18pts; 4th Will Bratt, 12pts
