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 GP2 Asia

Bahrain Round 6

BRATT SHUNTED OUT OF BAHRAIN RACE TWO 

British GP2 Asia Series racer Will Bratt endured a disappointing conclusion to his weekend’s racing in Bahrain this morning, Saturday, 27th February, after being shunted out of the sixth round of the 2009/2010 season. 

The talented Banbury-based driver, who lined up 16th on the grid for the 23-lap Sprint Race at Sakhir, made a customarily strong getaway and avoided any trouble during an extremely busy opening lap to gain two positions in quick succession. 

Soon taking 13th place, the Party Poker Racing.com Scuderia Coloni driver gained another spot at the expense of the fast-starting Alexander Rossi on lap two to move into the top 12 and looked well on course to make continued progress. 

Holding 12th position into lap three, Will’s hopes were then shattered when Rossi ploughed into the back of his Renault-powered Dallara into Turn 1 – the American having already made contact with Fabio Leimer under braking for the corner. 

Unsurprisingly disappointed with the outcome to round six, Will said: “Clearly I’m not happy with how my race ended. I’d moved up the order four positions in just the first two laps and everything was well set for a good run. The crucial thing was that I’d been careful with my rear tyres, I’d really looked after them, so we would have been very strong later in the race again. 

“It’s such a shame we had the contact from (Alexander) Rossi as we would have been on for a finish well inside the top 10 today, possibly as high as the top eight. For sure, we deserve some better luck for the final two rounds when we come back to Bahrain in a fortnight.” 

Heading into this weekend’s action, Will lay in 197th position out of the world’s top 2,000 international race and rally drivers in the prestigious Castrol Driver Rankings – a listing currently headed by 2009 Formula One World Champion Jenson Button. 

Although he was forced into retirement in today’s GP2 Asia encounter, Will’s performance during round five on Friday could well mean he climbs the table yet further when the updated rankings are revealed on Monday morning. 

Will now heads into a two week break ahead of, potentially, the biggest race meeting of his career on 13th/14th March when the GP2 Asia Series returns to Bahrain International Circuit for the season finale, supporting the opening Grand Prix of the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship.

Round 5 Bahrain

COMPETITIVE BAHRAIN RACE DEBUT FOR GP2 ROOKIE BRATT 

Will Bratt made a promising start to the third GP2 Asia Series event of the 2009/2010 season at Bahrain International Circuit on Friday, 26th February – the British racer securing a strong top 16 finish on his race debut at the Sakhir track during a highly competitive fifth round of the campaign. 

Driving for the Party Poker Racing.com Scuderia Coloni team, the 21-year-old made an outstanding start to the 34-lap Feature Race from the 10th row of the grid. Scything his way into 15th position, gaining five places in the first few turns, he weathered a more difficult mid-race period to produce a strong final third of the race where his pace was comparable to the quickest cars on track. 

Getting progressively faster as round five wore on, Will posted a best lap time of 1m48.592 seconds on the 29th lap which was equal to the pace of pole-sitter Jules Bianchi and most of the other top 10 finishers at that point. Stringing together a series of laps in the 1m48 second bracket during the last 10 laps, the Banbury-based racer served notice of the potential for another strong run in Race 2. 

“If we can replicate the same pace from the second half of today’s race in the Sprint Race, we should be competitive but it will be so important to manage the tyres well”, said Will, “My start today was very good again, unfortunately I ran a little bit wide a couple of laps into the race but the second half was strong. We ran faster and faster and certainly made good progress with the lap times.” 

During the short practice session on Thursday, 25th February, Will’s first ever experience of the Sakhir circuit, he posted a best lap of 1m45.852 seconds (184.060 km/h) even though his track time was reduced to just four genuine quick laps due to an engine-related problem.  

With that in mind, the Euroseries 3000 and Italian Formula 3000 Champion was less than half a second shy of the top 10 but qualifying didn’t deliver the improvement expected and he ended up 20th on the grid with a lap of 1m45.320 seconds (184.990 km/h). 

After making a typically strong start to this morning’s race, Will lost ground on the third tour after running slightly wide at Turn 10 which then compromised his entrance to Turn 11. Slipping several positions to 18th, he pitted at the end of lap six for his mandatory tyre change and when the race order evened out Will held 19th place. 

Managing his tyres well, the British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) Rising Star set about making inroads and dispatched Vladimir Arabadzhiev, Max Chilton and Josef Kral. On lap 23, Will moved ahead of Alexander Rossi and continued to improve his times with a series of fantastically consistent sectors. 

Holding 16th place with two laps remaining his next target, Edoardo Piscopo, was some 3.4 seconds ahead. Will closed the gap to two seconds into the final lap and ate into the Italian’s advantage yet further over the last 6.3km to take the chequered flag just a second shy of the top 15.

Round 4 Yas Marina - Abu Dhabi

6 Feb 2010

ENFORCED RETIREMENT ROBS BRATT OF CAREER-BEST GP2 FINISH 

GP2 Asia Series driver Will Bratt enjoyed a typically competitive run during the fourth round of the 2009/2010 championship in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, (6th February) although late-race contact from Swede Marcus Ericsson forced the Briton out of the race with less than five laps remaining. 

Following on from a fine 12th place finish under the floodlights at Yas Marina yesterday evening, the 21-year-old Party Poker Racing.com Scuderia Coloni racer looked all set to secure a career-best GP2 result today as he challenged Bulgarian Vladimir Arabadzhiev on the cusp of the top 10. 

With Ericsson close behind the battling duo as they headed into the 18th tour of the 22-lap Sprint Race, the Swedish pilot out-braked himself and clattered into the back of Will’s Dallara-Renault. The talented Banbury driver did manage to recover to the pits but the damage to his car was too severe, leading to an immediate retirement. 

“I’m disappointed with the end result but it’s been quite a positive weekend”, said Will, “Taking a top 12 in race one was good and everything looked set for a top 10 finish today but it just wasn’t to be. I’m happy I put up a good fight, it’s just a shame (Marcus) Ericsson out-braked himself as I looked up the inside of (Vladimir) Arabadzhiev. Even so, we’ve again shown we’re competitive in GP2.” 

Although finishing round three on Friday in 12th position, Will started today’s encounter 11th on the grid after Mexican Sergio Perez was served with a post-race 25 second penalty for a yellow flag infringement – dropping him from his original placing of ninth to 12th. 

Making a good getaway, following an originally aborted start due to Jules Bianchi stalling his car, Will remained in 11th position on the first lap but contact between Perez and Czech racer Josef Kral caused problems for both, allowing the Party Poker Racing-backed Briton to move into ninth place. 

Following the collision the Safety Car was deployed for two laps and although holding station after the re-start, Will slipped behind Giedo van der Garde and Charles Pic just before mid-distance. On lap 15, Dutchman van der Garde was forced to pit with a broken front wing after contact with Arabadzhiev so this enabled Will to run back in 11th position having earlier slipped behind Bianchi. 

The British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) Rising Star certainly had the measure of Arabadzhiev as the race edged towards its conclusion but on lap 18, Ericsson’s contact with the rear of Will’s car meant the 2009 Euroseries 3000 Champion and Italian Formula 3000 Champion had no option but to retire. 

Drawing praise for his performance from British Eurosport’s GP2 television commentary team, Martin Haven and Gareth Rees, Will certainly has plenty of positivity to take away with him from Abu Dhabi as he heads into a three week break before the third race meeting of the season. 

Round 3 Yas Marina - Abu Dhabi

5 Feb 2010

IMPRESSIVE RACE DRIVE SECURES BRATT TOP 12 AT YAS MARINA

Party Poker Racing.com-backed GP2 Asia Series rookie Will Bratt produced an impressive, battling drive during Friday evening’s third round of the 2009/2010 season in Abu Dhabi to secure his second top 12 result of the campaign. 

Racing well throughout the 33-lap Feature Race at the 5.5km Yas Marina Circuit, 21-year-old Will delivered a strong account of himself as he climbed from 22nd on the grid into the top 12 and, in doing so, finished as the highest placed of the two Scuderia Coloni drivers.

Marking Will’s first experience of ‘floodlit’ racing, today’s outing underlined the British driver’s ability as he overcame a lack of track time in qualifying – following an unfortunate spin while pushing hard on his fourth lap of the session – to produce a noteworthy performance. 

After making a very good start from the 11th row of the grid, Will avoided chaos at the first turn to carve his way inside the top 20 and by the end of the second sector of the opening lap he was in 18th position and pushing hard to keep experienced team-mate Alberto Valerio behind. 

Although slipping behind Dani Clos a couple of laps later, Will matched the Spaniard on sector times and remained tight to his tail as the end of lap six approached. At this point, Clos opted to make his mandatory tyre change pit-stop so Will sensibly followed suit and managed to leap ahead of his rival after a good ‘in’ lap and some neat work by the Party Poker Racing.com Scuderia Coloni team. 

By mid-distance, Will had steered his Renault-powered Dallara into the top 16 and the Banbury racer then began a duel with Frenchman Charles Pic which ran to the chequered flag on lap 33. Moving up the order on laps 26 and 27 to climb into 14th position, Will continued to apply enormous pressure to Pic. Although there was no way past, two late retirements lifted the Briton into 12th place. 

“I’m pleased I was able to move forward in the race to finish in the top 12 and although I would have liked to have been further forward still, we’ve laid a solid foundation for tomorrow’s race with a 12th position start”, reflected the reigning Euroseries 3000 Champion. 

“Qualifying was a real shame but my race start was good and our pit-stop was excellent, the team did a good job turning me around to get ahead of (Dani) Clos. The aim tomorrow will be to push forward into the top 10 and, hopefully, secure my best result yet in GP2.” 

The 22-lap fourth round of the 2009/2010 GP2 Asia Series is scheduled to get underway at 18.00 (local time) tomorrow, Saturday, 6th February. Cable and digital satellite channel British Eurosport 2 will carry live coverage in the UK at 14.00 – please check listings for up-to-the-minute details.