Formula 2Open Wheel

Contact Wrecks Bratt’s Podium Chances In Nurburgring Race 1

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Will Bratt's hopes of a podium finish in Race 1 of the Formula 2 weekend at the Nurburgring were ruined by contact with Alex Brundle in an incident-packed race.

Bratt had qualified third for the race, after showing more strong pace off the back of his maiden win in Spa.

However, he lost his podium spot at the start of the race due to a poor start, as the Banbury racer got too much wheelspin off the line.

This dropped him to sixth, but he soon moved up to fifth after Ramon Pineiro served a drive-through penalty that he received for being out of position on the grid, just behind Bratt.

Bratt caught Brundle on lap four, and got close enough to make a move around the outside of his compatriot at the final corner on lap six. Contact between the pair on the exit of the corner saw Bratt go into a 360 degrees spin. He was lucky to keep it out of the pit wall and to only drop back to seventh place.

Despite bodywork damage and a slow puncture on his right-front tyre he made it home in seventh position.

“We were awesome on Friday during the test but in qualifying we didn't hook-up the sectors which was crucial and did cost us pole,” he said. “I was confident of fighting for the win though but my start was compromised by Pineiro being way too far over his grid box, really close behind.

“I was disappointed to drop to sixth, I just got too much wheelspin, but the race wasn't going too badly until the contact. I decided to go around the outside at the final corner and I'd got the move done, but then I was pushed up on the kerbs and turned into a big spin. It was pretty dramatic and we picked up quite a lot of damage – including a puncture – but to finish at all after that was ok.”

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About author
Peter joined the TCF team in September 2010 and covers GP2 and GP3 along with WTCC and Formula Two. You can find him on twitter at @PeteAllen_
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