ADDERBURY racing driver Will Bratt hoisted himself into Formula Renault UK title contention with two wins at Croft Circuit in North Yorkshire at the weekend.

The double victory moved Bratt into fifth position in the championship table.

The 19-year-old claimed his first success on Saturday with a deserved win after an outstanding qualifying performance gave him pole position.

An electric getaway saw Bratt take a clear lead over the first half dozen laps, until he came under pressure from fellow title contender Dean Smith.

Then, with just a couple of laps remaining, a spin for Ryuji Yamamoto resulted in red flags being shown, leaving Bratt to take top step on the podium.

Sunday's second race was a near carbon-copy of Saturday.

Bratt started the 15-lap encounter from pole, and another textbook getaway saw him grab a lead he never looked likely to relinquish.

With Smith close up for the whole race, Bratt could not relax but remained cool-headed to take a second victory and another 32 points.

He said: "It doesn't get much better than this.

"We've had the pace to win every weekend this year, but this is the weekend where everything has finally come together for us and it's an amazing feeling.

"To take two wins has been fantastic but the biggest buzz for me was achieving double pole position in qualifying.

"I'd like to thank all the guys in my team for doing such a great job. I'm confident this is the start of a good run for us."

Team bosses Jon Pettit and Tony Trevor said: "Oulton Park is next, in three weeks time, and that's where we won last year so we can hopefully repeat the same sort of form."

"This has been the perfect weekend. The whole team got the qualifying strategy absolutely spot on, and then Will did a superb job in the car. We couldn't have asked for anything more.

"Will doesn't get fazed at all. The pressure just doesn't seem to cause him any problems. He drove faultlessly all weekend."

Bratt received the THB Clowes Driver of the Day award on Saturday.