Will Bratt endured a frustrating weekend on his debut at the Oschersleben track in Germany in tricky conditions.
The 22-year-old Banbury driver could only finish sixth in the wet on Saturday and seventh 24 hours later as he fell out of the race for the Formula 2 Championships. Embroiled in a wheel-to-wheel dice with Mihai Marinescu for the majority of the 23-lap race, Bratt just couldn’t find a way past with overtaking opportunities, especially in single-seaters, seriously limited at Oschersleben.
Starting the race sixth on the grid, Bratt was aiming to bounce back strongly from grip-related problems during Saturday’s encounter but after slipping to eighth on the opening lap he spent the duration of the race largely boxed-up behind Marinescu. Gaining a place a couple of laps from the finish due to the retirement of Nicola De Marco, Will ended the outing in seventh but with Sergei Afanasiev and Kazim Vasiliauskas finishing on the podium it means the British driver has slipped from fourth to sixth in the points standings.
With just two races remaining on the F2 calendar, which take place at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Valencia, Spain, on September 18 and 19, Bratt is 11 points behind third-placed Afanasiev in the standings.
“It wasn’t the weekend we wanted at all, I’m really disappointed to have come away having lost ground in the championship and we have a lot of hard work to do a couple of weeks from now to try and take the top three points finish," said Will. “We weren’t quick enough in qualifying again and it was difficult to try and pass in the race. Overall, it’s been a tough event and a frustrating one too.”
