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British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) Rising Star Will Bratt is delighted to confirm he will make a one-off return to the Formula Renault UK Championship this weekend, 7th/8th June, for the World Series by Renault race meeting at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit.
Reuniting with Loughborough based Apotex Scorpio Motorsport, the squad which ran Will to four race victories last year en route to third place overall in the driver standings, the Banbury based 20-year-old will take the seat vacated by Japanese driver Sho Hanawa.
Having graduated to Formula 3 this year in the FIAT Spanish F3 Championship – where he is currently third in the title chase after just four races – Will is confident the transition back to a 2.0-litre Formula Renault UK car should be fairly straight forward, even though he hasn’t driven one for a full eight months.
That said he is under no illusions as to the competitiveness of the series. The Oxon racer will also have his work cut-out to learn the full 3.2-mile Silverstone GP layout during just one, 55-minute test session which takes place later today, Thursday, 5th June.
“It’s great to have the opportunity to drive one of Apotex Scorpio’s cars at Silverstone this weekend”, said the multiple Formula Renault UK race winner, “World Series by Renault is always a fantastic event and it’s set to be bigger than ever this year, I can’t wait to get back behind the wheel of a Formula Renault later this afternoon.
“Obviously we hope to do well and I want to achieve some good results for the team but we know it won’t be easy. There are some very quick drivers in the championship again this year and they’ve been testing and racing all year. Today will be my first time back in the car in a long time but I’m confident the transition from F3 will be ok.”
During his three year tenure in Formula Renault UK from 2005 to 2007, Will achieved five race wins, four podiums, three pole positions, two Driver of the Day awards and a total of 774 championship points.
He added: “As a racer I want to do as well as possible and it would be a dream result to get on the podium at Silverstone, particularly as it’s my home track. We’re realistic though, I’ve never driven a racing car on the Grand Prix circuit before so we’ll just take everything as it comes and hopefully have a successful weekend.”
Arriving at Silverstone fourth in the entrant standings, Apotex Scorpio’s chief aim is for Will to impart his knowledge and experience of Formula Renault UK to the team’s current trio of drivers, Australian Josh Scott, British youngster Kieran Clark and South Korea’s ‘Tom’ Hung Sak Mun.
Commenting on Will’s one-off return, Apotex Scorpio, team boss Jon Pettitt said: “It’s great to be working with Will again for this race meeting, we’re all looking forward to it. He’s been doing exceptionally well in the Spanish F3 series, hopefully the switch from Formula 3 to Formula Renault won’t take him too long at all.
“He’s a quality driver and while it would be incredible for us to be back on the podium together, the biggest thing for Apotex Scorpio is for Will to come in and provide some great feedback and data for Josh, Kieran and Tom to learn from.”
Following this afternoon’s official test session, which takes place at 17.05, qualifying for the 11th and 12 rounds of the Formula Renault UK Championship will be held on Saturday, 7th June, at 13.05 with one 25-minute session determining the grid for both races.
On Sunday, 8th June, round 11 is timetabled to get underway at 09.00 with round 12 expected to follow at approximately 16.45.
Around 150,000 spectators are expected to visit Silverstone over the course of the weekend, the projected attendance set to mark the event out as the second biggest race meeting of 2008 behind only the British Grand Prix.
Along with Formula Renault UK, there will be a number of other race championships including Eurocup Formula Renault, ELF Renault Clio Cup, Eurocup Megane Trophy and the headline World Series by Renault category. In addition, there will be on-track and static displays from Renault’s Histoire et Collection and the Renault F1 Team.
