Adderbury's Will Bratt continued to prove his worth as a genuine Formula Renault UK front-runner at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit, leaving the Kent venue seventh overall in the 2006 driver standings after a brace of impressive race results.

The 17-year-old headed into the first two races of the year high in confidence after showing excellent pace in qualifying on Saturday but the teenager was also mindful of the Indy Circuit's notoriety as perhaps the most difficult track to overtake on.

Round one quickly saw this point proven with Bratt setting faster race laps than the two drivers ahead of him, Sam Bird and Cheng Cong Fu, but he was unable to make a decisive attempt at a pass with the field largely running line astern throughout the 24 laps.

Having started in eighth position on the grid, just three tenths of a second outside the pole position time, the Scorpio Motorsport ace put those immediately ahead of him under incredible pressure but was unable to force them into a mistake. Nonetheless, eighth place and 14 championship points were a very good return from the first race of the year.

In round two, Bratt started from the third row of the grid after producing a career-best fifth place start during the second of Saturday's qualifying sessions. Once again, his lap times in round two were consistently quick, but after losing a place off the line to race one podium finisher Jeremy Metcalfe, Bratt had to be satisfied with sixth position.

Confirming his pre-season testing pace with a very strong start to the new Formula Renault UK season, the Apotex Pharmaceuticals-backed ace heads to the third and fourth rounds of the year at Oulton Park Island Circuit in five weeks' time in seventh position in the championship with 32 points.

Speaking on a rewarding opening two rounds of the season, Bratt said: "I'm very happy with the way the weekend has been for us, we've shown our testing pace was no fluke and we're genuine contenders for the top six positions now."

With the opening race meeting of the season complete, Bratt turns his attention back to his A-level studies and will also spend some time celebrating his 18th birthday this Thursday.

His next on-track action will be at Oulton Park Island Circuit in Cheshire on May 13/14, Formula Renault UK now taking a five-week break while the British Touring Car Championship makes its annual visit to Mondello Park in Ireland.