LUCIANO BACHETA has won the FIA Formula Two Championship.
The Brentwood driver led from the first race of the season and finished 21.5 points ahead of his closest rival Matheo Tuscher.
He sealed the title by coming fourth and third in Monza, Italy over the weekend in a series of dramatic races and qualifying laps in which he twice ran off the track. But he held his nerve and his car, just about, intact to triumph.
"It's just about sinking in," he told the Gazette.
"So many people know about it. My twitter's gone a bit mental, it was constantly buzzing for about four hours.
"A lot of people have given me a lot of support and congratulations."
In all he won five of the season's 16 races and finished on the podium on ten occasions.
As part of his prize the 22-year-old now has the chance to test drive a Williams Formula One car at Silverstone in two weeks' time as he chases his ultimate dream of being a fully fledged F1 driver. That testing will also earn him an FIA Super Licence, which is required to compete in Formula One Grands Prix.
"This is a big step for me, it's completely stepping in to the unknown and I don't know completely what to expect," he said.
"It's like Christmas, I've worked so hard for this.
"Every driver works towards Formula One and to be given the chance to drive the car and with such a good team as well, it's not a back of the grid team, so it's brilliant."
He's already been welcomed in to the team by legendary owner Frank Williams, who said: "I'd like to pass on my personal congratulations to Luciano for winning the F2 title, a feat made all the more impressive by the way he achieved it with an unprecedented four consecutive wins at the start of the season.
"We look forward to putting him through his paces when he tests with us and I'm sure he will learn a great deal from the experience."
Bacheta, a former Sawyers Hall College student, has always been confident of closing out the championship since storming to back-to-back victories at Silverstone at the opening weekend in mid-April. But it's his obsessive attention to detail and determination at getting the most out of the car that seems to have set him apart from the rest.
"All year I've had this on my shoulders, I breath it you know," he said.
"It's turned in to my life, particularly when the season's in progress.
"I'm always trying to find some kind of advantage, I'm always trying to find a new thing to do with the car to make us faster.
"You don't have to do it to be fast always but to be consistently at the top you have to dedicate yourself to it and get as much information as you can.
"I was so aggressive early on in the championship that it meant I could measure my driving a bit more afterwards."
Going in to the weekend Bacheta had a comfortable 33.5 point advantage over his closest challenger.
Testing went well in the dry but the rain fell during qualifying and he ran in to difficulties. Trying to overtake a slower car he spun on to the grass, narrowly missing the tyre wall and damaging his tyres and front left wing – he still managed to qualify second.
There was more drama to follow in the race itself. When trying to overtake the leader he sped off in to the gravel and damaged his car again and had to settle for fourth.
On the Sunday other crashes in front of him meant he was denied his last two flying qualifying laps and was only seventh on the grid.
But with Tuscher only one place in front, he was still in pole position for the title.
Bacheta made his way through the field to finish third and clinch the title. "It was a weird weekend but we brought it home," said Bacheta.
"I was just delighted to get it done."
Born in Romford, Bacheta didn't take to motorsport until relatively late. His first experience of racing was aged 13 at Brentwood Karting in Warley.
The next year he was racing regularly at Buckmore Park and he slowly moved through the gears by winning the BRSCC T-Cars Championship in 2006.
He went on to race in Formula Palmer Audi, Formula Renault 2.0 WEC, Eurocup and GP3 before moving to F2 towards the end of last season.
Next season he wants to earn a Formula One reserve role as well as race in GP2, the level below F1.
He said: "We're aiming next year for either GP2 or World Series Renault. GP2 being the primary aim but it's also the most expensive.
Also coupled with that I'd also land a third role with a formula one team, that's the current aim."
