Banbury based Formula Renault UK Championship front-runner Will Bratt has spoken of his delight after being named a British Racing Drivers’ Club ‘Rising Star’, the 19-year-old sensation awarded the prestigious status following an interview at the club’s Silverstone headquarters yesterday, Thursday, 13th September.

The 2004 T-Car Champion, who away from the race track reads History at Oxford University, joins an elite group of young British drivers on the BRDC’s Rising Star programme and the award comes as confirmation of the outstanding season Will has enjoyed at the wheel of his Apotex Scorpio Motorsport run Formula Renault UK car.

Sponsored by Apotex UK Ltd and, for the recent World Series by Renault supporting 17th and 18th rounds of the Formula Renault UK season, Serif (Europe) Ltd, Will has certainly repaid the investment with some exceptional performances to underline his promise as a genuine prospect for a glittering career as a professional racing driver.

With four race victories, three other podiums and eight more results finishing sixth or higher this year, the Oxon racer has also achieved three pole position starts, posted the fastest race lap during round 16 at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit and was also named THB Clowes Driver of the Day for his dominant double race winning weekend at Croft Circuit in June.

Not only has Will shone in the driver standings, where he is currently placed third overall, his superb performances have also been instrumental in helping Loughborough-based Apotex Scorpio assume third position in the entrant’s standings – by far the best placing in the team’s history.

The BRDC Rising Star announcement, which comes four weeks before the final two rounds of the season at Thruxton in Hampshire, caps a superb year for Will and he is proud to have been selected as a member of such an elite club.

“I’m absolutely delighted to have been named a BRDC Rising Star”, said the single-seater ace, “It’s something we’ve hoped to achieve for a little while now so to have been awarded such a prestigious accolade truly is fantastic, I can’t thank everyone at the BRDC enough.

“We’ve had a great season, one which I’ve really enjoyed, and I think this shows our efforts and performances haven’t gone unnoticed by those who matter. The BRDC is the premier club of its kind in the world, not just Britain, and it’s an incredible honour and privilege to represent the BRDC as one of its Rising Stars.”

Inaugurated in 2000 by the Silverstone-based BRDC, Rising Star status is awarded by the club via invitation only and is done so to recognise young racing drivers who are deemed to have displayed excellence in their chosen field of competition and who also have the potential to achieve great things in the upper echelons of motorsport.

With just two more rounds of the 2007 Formula Renault UK Championship remaining, which take place on 13th/14th October at Thruxton Circuit in Hampshire, Will also has an eye on the possibilities for next season with a potential graduation to either World Series by Renault or, more ambitiously, GP2.