BANBURY’S Will Bratt makes his return to the track this weekend, following a late deal which will see him race at Silverstone.

The 27-year-old will stand in for Pons Racing’s Roberto Merhi in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series.

Bratt will make his first appearance in a single-seater racer since July 2011’s FIA Formula 2 Championship round at the Nurburgring, Germany, when his title bid was derailed by financial problems.

With Merhi joining the Manor F1 team for the Italian Grand Prix, Bratt is hoping to make the most of the opportunity.

He said: “It’s a huge surprise to be racing in Formula Renault 3.5 this weekend at Silverstone, but a very pleasant one, and a really fantastic opportunity to be back racing and at such a high level too.

“It’s going to be a big leap back in at the deep end; I haven’t even climbed into the cockpit of a single-seater since 2011, but I’ll be giving it 100 per cent as I always do.”

For the last five years, Bratt has focused on saloon, sports and GT racing, competing in the 2013 Total 24 Hours of Spa and the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship.