Six months since his last track outing in any car, Banbury racing driver Will Bratt made an outstanding return to action during official FIA Formula 2 Championship testing at the new Snetterton 300 circuit.

The 22-year-old was an immediate pace-setter during the opening session and was thoroughly dominant during the rain-affected fourth and final outing of the day.

Ending the day with a best lap time of 1m 37.612 seconds (109.49mph), thanks to his quickest effort from the opening dry session, the 2009 Euroseries 3000 Champion was unable to run in session two after a damaged sump led to some extensive repair work to his Williams JPH1B.

In session three, he was only able to manage two laps when gearbox problems struck. Repaired in time for the final, albeit wet, outing he immediately set about leading the way and topped the rain-affected run with a lap of 1m 54.462 seconds (93.37mph).

He said: “It was great to be back on track after six months away and I’m grateful for the opportunity to drive an F2 car again and show what I’m capable of.

“Everything went as well as I could have hoped really, we only had a chance to run in two of the four sessions, but we were on it from the off and very competitive.

“As ever, it’s all down to budget as to what we’ll be able to do this season. I’d love to be back in F2 to have another crack at the title and the Formula One test prize with Williams but we still need to wait and see what’ll be possible. Our options are still open but we know we’re running out of time.”

The 2011 FIA Formula 2 Championship gets under way just over a fortnight from now, April 16/17, so if Bratt is to return to the category for a second season, the clock is ticking in order to secure the necessary budget.

Prospective sponsors and commercial backers can contact Henry Spratt at Enterprise Sports Management on 0207 5903667 or at henrys@enterprisesports.com