Will Bratt secured a coveted top three placing in the final 2007 Formula Renault UK Championship standings at Thruxton Circuit in Hampshire today, Sunday, 14th October, during the all-important 19th and 20th rounds of the season.

The BRDC Rising Star, driving for Loughborough-based Apotex Scorpio Motorsport, is seeking a move up the single-seater ladder in 2008 and he certainly underlined his prowess at the wheel of a slicks and wings racer this weekend with two excellent race performances.

Qualifying in sixth position for the first of today’s two races, Will maintained his placing on the run from the grid through Allard for the first time but at the end of the opening tour he lost out massively when forced to come to a near standstill when Dean Smith and Alexander Sims made contact, the former blocking Will’s path.

Forced to almost stop his car, 19-year-old Will had a mountain to climb during the remainder of the race from 11th position but he set about the task and quickly benefited from spins by Jordan Oakes and Nathan Caratti.

The Safety Car had to be deployed on lap six but at the re-start on lap nine, Will made the most of the opportunity to close on Brazilian Adriano Buzaid before passing him through Goodwood for eighth place.

Next in Will’s sights was Richard Singleton but before he dispatched the Welsh driver on lap 13, he was already the beneficiary of a gained position when race leader Riki Christodoulou was forced out of proceedings by cousin Adam at the chicane on the previous tour.

In sixth place, the Banbury 19-year-old wasn’t finished by any means and when Adam Christodoulou encountered further problems Will moved into the top five before then making one more gain prior to the finish by passing Jeremy Metcalfe at the chicane on lap 17.

Round 20 was a little more sedate. Starting seventh on the grid, Will passed Apotex Scorpio team-mate David Epton quickly but the pair then lost out to Jeremy Metcalfe on the run to the chicane at the end of lap three. Slipping back to ninth behind Epton, Will moved back ahead on lap four but then remained in eighth position for the rest of the 19-lap encounter.

Reflecting on his final weekend in Formula Renault UK, Will said: “The car was a handful in the first race but we were able to pick up tows from other cars quite well which was obviously useful! To finish fourth was a good result as we had a lot of problems to deal with.

“At the chicane, Dean (Smith) and (Alexander) Sims basically fell over each other and Dean bounced across the kerbs and was stranded in front of me. There was nothing I could do, I had nowhere to go, so I almost had to come to a complete standstill. I then had a massive slide going through Goodwood but we still managed to fight back strongly which was good.”

The Oxford University scholar added: “The second race wasn’t as good for us results-wise and although it wasn’t quite the end to the season I had in mind, overall it’s been a fantastic year and we’ve had a lot of high points. The four wins are obviously what I remember best but there have been a lot of other good races too, I’ve really enjoyed the season.”

Will is now waiting to see if his outstanding efforts in this year’s Formula Renault UK Championship will be justly rewarded with a place in the highly prestigious 2007 McLaren Autosport BRDC Award finalist line-up.